Boys Own Paper June 7, 1913

8/8/2019 Boys Own Paper June 7, 1913

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/boys-own-paper-june-7-1913 1/16

NO. 36, VOLUME XXXV.] S A T U R D A Y , J U N E 7 , 1 9 1 3 . P r i c e O n e P e n n y .[ A L L R I G H T S R E S E RV E D . ]

T H E G U M - R U M M E R S ,A Y a r n o f t h e P h i l i p p i n e s .

By STANLEY PORTAL HYATT, Author of " The Escape of the AUeynian," etc.

whim.

ILSON KENNY , master of the S.S. Calabria, g lanced roundcautiously, then turned to the ma n in th e l ong chair beside

" Are you coming with me this t r ip, Jac k ? " he asked . " Ishould imagine you 're gett ing ab ou t t ired of Ho ng K o n g . "

Th e other b lew out a big c loud of c iga r smoke , and wa tc hed i t

d r i f ting upwar ds . " Le t ' s hea r wha t y o u ' v e g o t o n this t i m e , " h eanswered .

Once more the sai lor l o o k e d round to ma ke su re t h a t no onewa s in earsho t. " Ev er bee n a Majo r-Ge ner al ? " he said. " We l l ,I kno w yo u haven ' t . Bu t do yo u wan t to be one ? "

Mr . J o h n C o o p e r, ex- l i eu tenan t in His Majes ty ' s Na vy , ex - t rader

" The insurgents on shore lined up inrather ragged formation, and presentedarms as the General stepped ashore." [See p. 562.)



562 The "Boy's Obvn Paper.in the So uth Sea Islands, and heir to abaron etcy , gr inned amiab ly. " I d o n ' tmi nd, " he rep l ied . " Wha t ' s the pay ?W h a t h a v e y o u a n d I and the o ld Calabriag o t to do wi th Major-Genera l s ? "

" Gun s ," rep l ied the o ther laconica l l y." Fo r our l i t t l e brown bro t hers ."

J a c k y a w n e d . " D o n ' t k n o w t h e m . Ih a v e n ' t g o t a n y. Yo u m a y h a ve , t h o u g h . "

Ke nn y laughed. " Do n ' t be an ass , Jack .This is dead ser ious . Ha ven ' t yo u heardtha t , s ince the Amer icans got the Phi l ippines ,all the Filipinos have been raised to thed i z z y height of the whi te man ' s l i t t l e bro wnbrothers '1 "

" Are you ser ious , Wi l s o n ? " Cooperfrowned slightl y. " Ar e yo u really goi ngto run guns for those na sty li t t le niggers '!It sounds a bit low d o w n , doesn ' t i t ' ! "

Ke nn y shrugg ed his shoulde rs. " Can 'the lp mysel f . Orders , yo u know . They ' renot n iggers though, don ' t ca l l ' em t h a t .Only a bad breed of Mal ay. I have t won o w, do wn on the ship, a General an d aColonel, as impor tant as they ' re bad , whichis saying a lot. . . . We l l , are you on inthis 1 "

" Ne ed yo u ask ? " repl ied the other ." Whe re you go , I ' l l go . Al t houg h, as Isaid, I don't l ike running guns t h a t may ki l lwhi te men, even for your dusky-skinnedre la t ions ."

" N o r d o I , no t a bit of i t . Bu t the yhaven ' t g o t the guns ye t ; and they do n ' tget 'em either, if I can make enough tosatisfy the firm wit hou t giving the m u p.I 'v e go t the guns aboar d alread y, lots of t h e m . B r u m m a g e m , B e l g i a n a n d c o n d e m n e dA r m y s tuff . Germ an s teamer brought themout, as usual. I am clearing for Manilaan d l l o - i l o ; bu t my orders are to runpast bot h, dow n to a l i t t le bit of an i slandwith a long name , and land the stuff there.T h e loca l brigands are to take i t over andp a y m e . "

The o ther looked d o u b t f u l . l i Wi l l t h e ypay '! I sho uld think it 's a good deal morelikely they ' l l s imply take the stuff, and telly o u to go away and p lay. Or they may evenget the idea into their heads tha t th eCalabria '11 ma ke a nice w arshi p, thencollar her, call her t he Independence o rt he Justice, or something l ike tha t , an ds tar t off as p i ra tes—proper pa t r io t s ty l e ."

" No chance of i t , " answered K c n n j - .'* I ' m to o old a hand at the ga me for t h a t .Since yo u were on her, I 'v e mad e a greati m p r o v e m e n t , go t a big ice-ehest fi t tedup on the chart house , alongs ide th esearch- l ight . "

" Idon ' f r see how tha t helps ," rep l ied Cooper." Ice won ' t keep off would-be buccaneers ."

Ken ny laughed. " No , but there isn ' tany i ce in my b ox , jus t a nice, clean, well-oiled Max im, which I 've had by me eversince tha t show in the Mexi can Gulf. Ifound it then, on a wharf beside which Ilay, so, as I thoug ht they migh t hur t e a c hother with it , I . brought i t along when 1cleared out . No w, if the brow n brother stry any mo nk ey tricks, I 'd see ho w straightt h a t gun shoots . B esides , we'l l be ninewhi te men, inc luding the engin eers ; andthe Chin amen in the cre w are no fools,when they're really in for a scrap."

" An d what abou t vour Genera l andColonel ? "

The sk ipper scowled. " Li t t le bru tes ,"ho said. " Th ey offered me a commiss ion

in their outfit of robbe rs. Sho wed me asample uni for m; but even the red andgold shoulder straps w o u l d n ' t t e m p t m e ,though I sa id you might take i t ins tead ."

" Thanks . You ' re k in d ," answeredCooper drily . " Stil l , I ' l l c o m e w i t h y o u —as an onlooker."

The re were a good man y por ts , inCentral a nd Sou th Ame ri ca, as well as inthe China seas, where the au thori ties wo uldgladly hav e fo und an e xcu se for layin ghands on Capt ain Ke nn y and his l i t t lefifteen-hundred-ton st ea me r; but , th ou ghhe had bee n suspe cted, usually with justi ce,of breac hes of a host of In te rna t iona l L a w s ,he had never actually been caug ht. Th eCalabria, despit e her unbeautiful appearance—stump masts , tall funnel, and generallytramp-like air—was a seventeen-knot vessel,having been built for a definite purpose,namel y, the running of b l ock ade s ; andshe was able to show a clean pair of heelst o mos t of the gunboat s tha t pol iced thoset roubled waters in whic h Capta in Ke nn yfished fo r d i v i d e n d s .

On this cruise the Calabria s l ippedsouthwards through a ca lm sea . Tho ughthe Nor th-Eas t M o n s o o n was booming inits fiercest on the Paci fic side of the islan ds,among st the Archi pe lago i t sel f the waterwas like glass. Ke nn y had passed Manilain the n i ght ; bu t , beyon d doing tha t , heha d t aken no precaut ions to avoid meet ingother vessels, reck onin g rightly tha t a n y

government c raf t he might encounter wouldmere ly take him to be one of the hundred sof shabby li t t le craft which t r a m p roundthe Islands in search of he mp and cop ra.

Navi ga t io n i s a nervous task in thosenarrow, unchar ted waters , where innumerable ugly li t t le reefs l ie hidden just belowthe sur fac e ; consequent ly, the sk ipperspent mo st of his t ime on the b ridge .The vessel skirted the c oasts of severalislands, hilly, forbidding shores, heavy witha mono ton ous dark-green foliage. Sh ewas s teaming s lowly, and it was not untilth e third eveni ng after passing Ma nila tha tshe dropped anchor off a narrow break in along stretch of coral reef, which almost closedthe entranc e to a large, palm-frin ged b ay.

" Our friend, the head brigand, saysthere ' s plen ty of wate r on tha t bar, and evenmore ins ide ," Kenny remarked to Cooper." B u t then , i t isn' t his sh ip ; and if sheg o t piled up, he c o u l d salve his guns, andwe could get our throa ts n ice ly cu t , whichw o u l d save him the wre nch of payi ng us.So I 'm tak ing no cha nce s ; I ' m sendingth e S e c o n d in to sound a bit , and generallyto look r o u n d . "

A coup le of hours later, the second matecame b ack . " Al l right, Jarv is '! " ask edthe skipper.

" Al l right, sir. Ple nty of water, asthe Da go —I mean the Genera l—said . Nosign of life though. Only a burned townat the head of the ha}-. I did n' t land, asit was a hard-lo okin g place ; and t o judg e

b y the birds, there ' s been some kill ingpre t ty recent ly."

Th e skipp er frow ned. " Get the beltsfo r the Max im ready, Jarv is . F ix ' e m upwhilst these exalted patriots are down atdinner. Bu t have her c o v e r e d . I don ' twant them to kn ow about her. "

B y sunset the Calabria had threadedher way in between the reefs, and was atanchor in the bay, a quar te r of a mile fromshore.

Genera l Esco bie to had been obvious lydisconcer ted at finding the tow n burne d.

" It must have been the pulajanes, theM en in Red f rom the mounta ins ," heexpla ined in Spanish to Ke nn y. " But myo wn men , where can th ey be ? "

" Aren ' t these red gent lemen anyth ingto d o with y ou ? " the ski pper asked.The General m ade a gesture of disgust.

" No ," he sa id . " No , no . Th ey areladrones, fanatics, bandit s ; w hilst we, weare pat riot s, fighting for glo rio us lib erty .W e kill those pulajanes just as we kill theA m e r i c a n o s . "

" Or they kill yo u, eh ? " remarked!Ken ny. " The y seem t o have don e so-in this case. But i t migh t have been the-Amer icans burnt t h e t o w n . "

The General shoo k his head. " Th eyh a v e n ' t c o m e here yet . Th ey are to o busyin the other islands. An d they'l l bebusier still, soon ." he added v indic t ive ly." Doub tles s, our own men will be heret o - m o r r o w. "

N e x t morning, as soon as it was lightenough to see, the two insurgent officers-were on deck, eagerly scanning the shoresof the bay. Sudde nly, from the to p of on e of the hills, a dull note b o o m e d o u t .

Th e General gav e a grunt of satisfaction." The boudjon, the alarm-horn," he said,turning to Kenn y, who had jus t come o u t ,clad in pyjamas .

Th e skipper no dde d. " It ma y be tie-rival outfit , the patriots in red," he said.

" I think not, scf ior, " replied the other." It was a signal to us. Bu t we'l l see.Fetch the flag, Colonel Reyes ," he addedwit h a gra nd air.

A few minutes later th e Colonel reappeared, carrying a large multicoloured

ens ign , which Kenny surveyed wi th obvious-dis favour.

" W h a t ' s tha t ? " h e a sked.The General swelled with pride. " Th e

glorious ensign of Philippine Independence-and Jus t ice ."

Ken ny grunted . " D o yo u want tohois t tha t as a signal ? Al l right . Her e,quartermaster, ru n this rag up at the fore . "

The flag blew ou t fitfully in th e li ghtmorni ng breeze ; and , a mo me nt later, threemore long blasts from the horns showedtha t the signal had been seen.

T h e insurgent officers breathed sighs of relief. " A h ! " they said. " It is our men.T h e y wi l l c o m e do wn to the beach now.'*

" Very wel l , " said Kenn y. " Th ey canamuse themselves tha t way whilst we'rehavi ng breakfast. Bu t I wan t to have agood look at them through the glass beforeI send any boa ts ashore. Th e other lotmight have copied your signal, which, bythe way , doesn 't seem a very elabora te one ."

On rea chin g t he de ck again, half anhour later, the pe ople on the ship could se ea c r o w d of men assem bled on the beach,some in red and white uniforms , others inlight blue cotto n suits. All wore spreadings t raw hats, looped up in front with a gaudybadge .

K e n n y survey-ed them critically throughhis glass. " Choice- looking c rowd," h eremarked, as he handed the telescope toCooper. " Very mu ch the worse for wear.L o o k as though they'd slept in the mud

fo r th e last mont h . Only one or twoguns, thoug h. Fifty of them , I shouldthink. The main b o d y must be awaysomewhere ." Th en in Spanish, " Well,General, do you want to go ashore ? Mr.Jarv is here will take y o u . A r e y o u going,Jac k ? I think it ' s safe enoug h. I ' l l sta yby the sh ip . Do n ' t be l o n g . "

The boat pulled up to a shelving, sandy-beach bordered with palm-trees, betweenwhich th e ruins of the burned t own couldeasily be seen. Th e insurgents on shorelined up in ra ther ragged format ion , andpresented arms as the General steppedashore. An officer, resplendent with largered epaulets and a broad red sash, to whichwas attached a heavy cavalry sabre quite

out of proportion to his size, strode forwardand greeted the new ly arrived officerseffusively. Meanwhi le , wi thout rece iv inga n y further orders, the men bro ke ranksand loun ged awa y, cigarettes in theirm o u t h s .

There was not much to see in the-place. Th e hill-men had done their w o r k



The Gun-"Runners. 563

thoroughly, an d of the homes which oncesheltered several thousand people nothingromained beyond some charred poles. T h eChurch and the Tribunale, stone buildings,still stood ; bu t their roofs had been burned,an d t h e doors a n d windows destroyed.Beside the little sea wall were tho remai nsof a small fleet of dug out s and ca noe s, butall had b een rendered useless by the rebels,wh o had battered in the sides of the craft,and smashed up the outriggers and gear.

In the old store they found t h e remainsof a white man, evidently t h e Spanisho w n e r of the plac e. He had been sho t d o w nfrom behind. A score more, al l natives,la y in tho entrance of the church, and asmany again in the Tribunale.

K e n n y looked black when he heard t hestory. " I hate to let them have the guns,"he growled. " I wish I ' d refused t o haveanyth ing t o do with tho busines s. Bu t thepa y was too good for the firm to let it g o . "

" W h a t a fine target for the M a x i mthey make, squatting there," Jack remarked,glanc ing towards the beach.

K e n n y nodded. " We ' l l see," h e saidgr imly. " I may have to try it y e t . "

Meanwhile, th e General was o n shore,d e e p in consultation with his subordinates.Ti m e wore on, and i t was well after m idd ay

"I1TITH regard t o t h e school-magazinesW different schools hold different

records . Tho oldest existing schoo l-pa per,published regularly a n d without dist inctbreak, so far as can be ascertained, is " Th eKadleian," belonging t o R a d l e y College.Th e record for highest regular circulation ish e l d b y " The Pauline," which c o m e s o f course from St. Paul's School , and can boastof selling some 1600 copies monthly-. T h ebigges t , in the size of its page s, is th e " E t o nCollege Chronicle." T h e dearest (occas iona l ly a t any rate) is " The GlenalmondChronic le , " whose price is now and then ashilling for a special number.

Le t us begin with " The Radleian " then,as being the " oldest inhabi tan t " amongs tou r school-magazines. I t is a smar t paper,well got-up and well edited. A b o u t eightnumbers of it are published annually, andits circulation is given as some 400 p e rmon th . Its usual price is sixpence, which, bythe way, seems the char ge for mos t school-magazines. The editor of " The Radleian "must, by custom, be a Prefect , a member of

when h e signalled for a boa t t o bring himb a c k t o th e Calabria. Kenny received himungrac ious ly.

" Well , let's have this all fixed u p , " h esaid. " I want t o get rid of yo ur stuff, ge tmy mon ey , and be off. I ' d look well if anA m e r i c a n cruiser came along."

Th e General appeared troubled. " B u tI cannot land here, senor," h e explained." The accursed bandits have destroyedeverything. Besides, there wa s a mistake.Th e m o n e y is at Concepc ion , a day's steamd o w n the coast ."

A n ugly look came in to Kenny ' s eyes ." Is t h a t so ? " h o said drily. " W h a t

d o you propose ? "" That you t ake my party ro und there, ' '

replied the insurgent chief, promptly.Th e skipper shook hi s head. " Can't

be d o n e , " he said. " You can come, b u tno t th o c r o w d . "

Th e General argued, exp ostulated,i m p l o r e d , bu t in vain. Ke nn y refused t oy ie ld .

" I go out b y to-m orr ow morning 's t ide,"he said. " I ' d g o to-night, if I could .Y o u ca n c o m e with me, but they can walk.I t won ' t h u r t them ; they can' t g e t an ydirtier t h a n they are," he add ed scornful ly.

It was a sore and angr y Filipino who

(To be concluded.')

7f

went d o w n t h e ship's side. B u t K e n n ybreathed a sigh of relief. " I t ' l l be a clear lossof a tho usa nd to the firm," he said. " Bu t Id o n ' t believe I ever meant t o let 'em havethe guns ; though I wish I ha d t h a t cash."

To w a r d s evening, however, t h e Generalsignalled for the bo at again, and was bro ugh t

b a c k t o t h e Calabria. H i s annoyances e e m e d to have vanished." I f you will t ake these th ree men and

myse l f t o Concepc ion , senor, i t w i l l d o , "he announced.

K e n n y bit his lip, and r emaine d silenta minute, deep in thought .

" All right," he said a t last . " I'll sail a tdaybreak ."

Cooper looked surprised a t the changeof plan. " I can' t understand you, Wi l s o n , "he remarked. " You don ' t seem t o k n o wy o u r own mind this tr ip. Half a n hourag o it wa s al l off. No w you' re going t od o what the little fiends want."

K e n n y sighed. " I ' ve got into a di r tybusiness this t ime ," h e said. " A n d y e tI hate to go back on my owners. The y have

a lways pla yed the gam e with me. Oh, wel l ,someth ing m a y t u r n u p y e t . Yo u s a yt h e y ' v e no boats ashore ? "

" AH smashed up ," a nswere d Cooper." Every mortal one of them."

THE: MAGAZINES o r THE GREAT SCHOOLS.

By GEORGE A. WADE, B.A.

the Sixth F orm , and he is selected by t h eretir ing editor, t o w h o m he has generallyacted for a t ime a s sub-ed i to r p rev ious ly t os u c c e e d i n g to the higher post .

In reference to i ts contents "T he Radl eian "d o e s n o t much differ from other similarmagaz ines , except in i ts outspokenness. T h eactual events o f school-l ife ; the successes,marria ges, deaths, etc . of " Old Radleians " ;the p romot ions a n d successes o f b o y s i ns c h o o l ; the chronicling of special lectures,entertainments, etc. , these form it s mainsource of c o p y. There c o m e s now and then

an original art icle, sto iy, or p o e m f rom somebudding literary genius t o w h o m R a d l e yCollege is acting as Alma Mater, which contribution delights the editor 's hear t by beingfar above t h e average, an d so printable.W h e n this happens " The Radleian " gloriesin the prec ious thin g, but it is not a m o n t h l yeven t .

Th e " sugges t ions" which t h e R a d l e y

® I J F grijool J12flga$inF.

youths make through the medium o f theirmonthly magazine cannot be said t o err onthe side of shyness. For exampl e, onesuggests t h a t " Steps should at once be t a k e nto rid the college of rats an d m i c e . " Anothertha t " more brushes ought to be p r o v i d e dfor sweeping out studies on Sundays." A n d

Uppingham, Nouember,th e last suggestion amongst a dozen or sosimilar ones is t h a t " Some notice should bepai d to these suggest ions by the auth orit ies. "

" The Pauline," as hold ing th e " recordc i r c u l a t i o n " amongst school-magazines, mustnext claim attention. It is of o v e r th i r tyyears ' standing, costs sixpenc e, and appearss e v e n t imes during the school year. As achronic le r of things pertaining t o St. Paul 'sSchool , a n d a b o u t t h e past a n d presentalumni o f t h a t insti tution. " The Pauline "is gi eat, and in this respect cannot be excelledby an / of i ts contemporaries.

It c an boast of anot her " record , " fo r it isth e only magazine of its kind amongst t h eprincipal ones which decorates its front c o v e r

with a capital por t ra i t of the foun der of theschool , as i ts chief at traction there. D r .Joh n Colet canno t compl ain, i n th e eternalshades, t h a t his name and fame have beenf o rg o t t e n , when one remembers what St .Paul 's School has done i n so man y variousw a y s to perp etua te the m, and so successfully ,too . Another feature o f note about thisPauline cover is t h a t i t bears on its bo rder



56 4 The "Boy's Otvn Taper.

the names of famou s Paulines of byg rn eages , and a grand list they f o r m . T h e

€f)e jfettestan.magazine is delightfully printed an d welledited.

T h e " E ton College Chro nicl e " has beengoing no w for ab ou t fifty year s, and has theunique dist in ction amon gst themagazines of our great schools of being issued weekly instead of m o n t h l y. Its size, reck oned b y i tssheet area , makes i t th e biggest of al l such papers, t hough each nu mbero n l y consists of eight pages. Wh enit is mentioned t h a t the sheetmeasure s 13J in. by 5J in. it wil leasily be seen t h a t this magaz inenearly approache s man y newspapersin size. Th e week ly cos t is threep e n c e pe r c o p y.

T h e " E ton College Chronicle "has other uniqu e dist incti ons. I tis the o n l y school -magaz ine ownedb y a pri vat e prin ting firm, an d no tb y th e school itself. It bel ong s toMessrs. Spot t i swoode . Moreover, i tis almost the o n l y paper of i tsclass which has a bigger circulation

a m o n g " Old B o y s " t h a n amongs tthe present pupils at school . It isedited b y two Etonia ns, one of w h o m mus t b e a " College r " and theo ther an " Oppid an ." No school -magazin e has had so many edi torsw h o have afterwards dist inguishedthem selv es in wi de fields. W e needo n l y m e n t i o n t h a t amongs t pas teditors of the " Eto n CollegeC h r o n i c l e , " in their s c h o o l d a y s , wereG. W. Proth ero, H on . G. R. C.Har r i s, Hon . Edwar d Lyt te l ton ,H o n . Alf red Lyt te l to n , E . Ruggles -Brise , Hon. Ivo Bl igh (now LordD a r n l e y ) , G. R . Por tal , H. J. C.Cust, H. W. Bainbridge, Hon. C.Knatchbul l -Hugessen , T. W. Brand ,I an Malcolm, e tc . Wha t memor iesof doughty deeds in later life thislist recalls !

P r o b a b l y t he o n l y school -magaz ine t h a t does not bear init s t i t l e any reference to its school ,o r to the foun der of t h a t insti tution,is the mon thl y organ of Upp ing ham , whichre jo ices in the simple, but perha ps mo resignificant, t i t le of " T h e School Magaz i n e . " O l d " U ppingham Rove rs "w i l l s m i l i n g l yremark , " That isall r i ght ! Ther e iso n l y o ne s c h o o l ! "

w h i c h speaks volu m e s , in the way

the remark is ^ r , . . . ,ut te red , fo r the i r TLhC CllftOnfatt.l o v e of Thri ng andUppin gham. " The S c h o o l Magaz ine " i s am o s t unpret ending pa per in a l ight- bluec o v e r, abo ut the size of a small hand boo k,

and contain ing man y pages of m a t t e rv e r y intere sting t o its readers. A tableof conte nts pr efaces the front of eachnumb er (there are abou t ei ght a year) , ands i x p e n c e is required again to purchase it.Thirty-two pages are between the l ight-blueb a c k s , an d th e ma ga zi ne is no w in its fiftiethyear . Its edit ors are usuall y tw o b o y s in the

Upper S ix th form, and no fault can be foun dwith the way they do their duty. Poe t ry o f a fair type is mor e con spi cuo us in t hesepages t h a n in almost any other similarmagazi ne ; which may, or may not , be ag o o d ome n for our locating a future Laureate.

" The Fe tt esi an" is nearly exact ly thesize of Uppi ngh am' s paper, and belongs,of course, to the great Edinbu rgh school of learning and—fo otbal l . I t has run forthirty-five years, is not over stoc ked in i tseighteen pages, which are edited by the head-b o y of the school , who is the chief of theUpper S ix th form. " The Fe t t es ian "

Chester College. " The Eli zab eth an" isalso one of the school-mag azines whose

h Harris. deL

varies widely in different numbers. Whe nit deals with such a sub jec t as a no tab lece lebra t ion in the h isto ry of the school ,o r the death of one of the most -lo ved of Fett esian master s, it is at its very best .W h e n i t publishes any photograph, as inthe a bo ve instances, the thi ng is alwa ysexcel len t ly done. I ts printing is capital ,and its m a t t e r succin ct and smartly arranged,w h i c h may account for the number of pagesbeing less t h a n is usual in most magazines.

T h e school- magazine of St. Peter 's College,West min ster , is one of the few nam ed afterthe founder of a public school , instead of after the school itself. W e hav e t h u s " TheEl izabe than ," o f Wes tmins te r S c h o o l ;the " Blundel l ian," of the famous Ti vert onS c h o o l ; the " Al le yn ia n" o f Du lwichCollege ; and the " Wyk eh ami st ," of Win -

c o v e r bears the colou rs of the school—thesaid colour in this case being the well-known

Westminste r " pin k."" The El i zabe tha n" has now

run for twe nt y years, and ispublished m onth ly during school-terms, there being always nine—s o m e t i m e s ten—numbers in theyear, which cos t sixpence each.Its contents are of the averageclass of the pub lic school-paper,but it ha s muc h fewer original contributions in the shape of articles,tales, etc., by actual pupils or " OldB o y s " t h a n hav e som e of itscontemporar ies . Its notes on theschool sports, however, are only-second to those of Fettes, whilsti ts j ott ing s abo ut " Old Westminsters " are always excellent. Wor thyof notice is it t h a t on the cover th earms of the school are placed amida curiously conglomer ate, yet not

inappropriat e, picture, which showsth e A b b e y, the Houses of Parl iament,the celebrated porch-entrance toth e school , and the equally well-k n o w n monument to Westminster 'ssons who perished in the CrimeanWar, all co mb in ed as if in oneerec t ion , cement ed by the shieldbearing the coat-of-arms, fromw h i c h the fam ous birc h still inuse sticks prominently out, as if toc o m p l e t e the picture !

" The Cl i f ton ian" i s a smar t ,tract-shaped publication, whichappears monthly at Clifton College,its sale being restricted solely topresent and pas t Clifton alumni.Usually ten numbers annually areissued, price sixp ence each , and themagaz ine has cov ers of the unusualcolour of pale mauv e. I ts twenty-si x pages are not eno ugh to carry thewhole of the interesting mat te r t h a tthe ed it or finds at his dispo sal, so the

inside pages of the c o v e r are utilised also.On e excell ent feature of "T he Cliftonian " is

i ts names-and-addresses of correspondents—ol d boys—in all par ts of the world, so tha tevery member reading the paper can tell at



The Magazines of the Great Schools. 565

o n c e , whe n in a foreign land, if any othe rClif tonian is near his place of ab od e. I tgoes in now and t h e n fo r o r ig ina l poe t ry,p resumably by b o y s in the s c h o o l , or for achance art icle of interest , but is hard ly upto the s t a n d a r d of one or two of i ts r ivalsin this . I t has had a con tinu ous career forforty-f ive years, and i ts two edito rs arechosen by the b o y s of the S ix th For m. The yare to be congra tulated on the wa y th ey d othe i r edit ing, if the numb ers b efore us are fairsamples of the i r w o r k .

The crimso n backs of " The Cheltoni an "are well kno wn to those who have ev er ha danything to do with the celebrated c o l l e g etha t makes one of Chelte nham 's princip allandma rks. A magazine tha t has been inv e r y active evidence without a break sincethe month of May 1866, t h a t ha s a t t a i n e da circulat ion amo ngst p a s t and presentb o y s at the school of well ov ̂ r 100 0 per issue,an d tha t has done the g o o d work " TheCheltonian " has accom plis hed , is not l ikelyto find itself blushing at fame in th i s yearof grace 1913.

In get-up and size " The Chelt onian "

f o l l o w s the l ines o f i t s con tempo ra r i e s f romClif ton and Fe t t e s . I t has one no tab ledifference f rom most schoo l -magaz ines int h a t i t ev iden t ly makes adver t i s ing pay, fo ri t issues eight pages of the c rim son t in t ,which are p rac t i ca l ly, exc ep t the f ron t pag e ,full of adv ert i seme nts o f vario us f irms.Could not some o the r schoo l - ed i to r s t ake ahin t f rom th i s ? As to i ts con ten ts, t h e r e isno th ing ve ry remarkab le in the num berbefore us to differentiate i t f rom the o rd ina ryschoo l -magaz ine .

Dulwich Co l l ege ' s p a p e r , " T h e A l l e y n i a n , "has b een in existe nce since 1873, and hasthe sp lend id mon th ly c i rcu la t io n o f 1250c o p i e s . I t " c o m e s out " th r i ce each t e rm,or nine t imes d uring the y ear. " Th eA l l e y n i a n " holds one record amon gs t i t scon tempora r i es : i t can boas t o f hav ingfou r edito rs who mak e i t the i r s tudy andcare . Wi t h such a t t en t ion and en thus iasmon e can no t wonde r a t i t s g rea t success ,lit era ry an d financial.

" The Marlburian " holds the record fori ts number of issues yearly, i f we leave outof our reckon ing tho " E to n College

(To be concluded^)

Chron ic l e . " For no fewer t h a n fourteenn u m b e r s o f " T h e M a r l b u r i a n " a p p e a r ,which says much , no t o n l y for the way i t isedit ed, but also tor the keen sup por t Marlb o r o u g h Col lege gives to i t s wor thy paper.I t s p r i ce a l so occas iona l l y makes i t n o tab l e ,fo r s o m e t i m e s t he M a r l b o r o u g h y o u t h d e v o i dof present cash has o n l y to find threepenceto pay for his c o p y. And as every s c h o o l b o yknows , Jones minor, who is h a r d to pe r suadeto l end y ou a s ixpence , can now and thenbe persuaded to par t with three penc e on theoa th —sole mn and twic e o r th ri ce repea ted !—tha t the loan shall be du ly repaid within te res t immedia te ly the nex t ha l f - sov. i sremi t t ed f rom the Governor.

" The Mar lbu r ia n" i s ve ry readab le ,tho ugh i t devo tes a lot of spac e to house-m a t c h e s — m o r e t han m a n y m a g a z i n e s d o .It was s t a r t e d in 1865, and has two or moreed i to r s , members o f the h ighes t fo rm. It sc i rcu la t ion aver ages abo ut 800. I t is wellprint ed, whils t the quali ty of the p ape rused is muc h ab ov e the aver age. In originalcon t r ibu t i ons i t does no t a t t a in th e s t a n d a r dof s o m e c o n t e m p o r a r i e s .

T h r o u g h A f g h a n

O r , L a r i K h a n o f t h e D i a m o n d Star.

By J. CLAVERDON WOOD,

Author of

' Sinclair of the Scouts," " Jeffrey of

the White Wolf Trail," etc.

LITTLE town of Ghar i Ghi lza i was

• a l m o s t m i d w a yb e t w e e n K a n d ahar and Kabul ,an d o w e d its im-m u n i t y f r o ma t t a c k by a rmiesmarch ing to andf rom these ci t ies,to the fact t h a th i g h m o u n t a i nranges s h u t it off f r o m t h e m a i nr o a d s .

It lay in themids t o f a ve ryf e r t i l e p l a t e a u

which was we l l wa te red by moun ta in s t r eams ,

and ,be iugshe l t e red f rom thekeen es t wind s , a l lkinds of fruit t r ees ab ou nd ed an d flourished.The level plain was rich in grain fields, a ndthe walled viney ards and pea ch and apr ico tgardens were famed for t h e i r exce l l ence .Grea t flocks of sheep and g oats fed on t hepas tures of the upla nds , and a fine bre ed of horses had made the nam e of the t ow nf amous . But Abd ul the Mul lah would only-sell his horses to his fr iend an d sove reig nD o s t Mohamm ed Khan , and Ghar i Ghi lza ibecame known and was spoken of as theK i n g ' s Stable.

A b o u t five miles aw ay , l ike a huge basinset in the mountains, was a lake of abouton e mile in breadth a nd t h r e e miles in leng th.I t was of unkn own dep th. Nea rly in thecen tre o f it lay a rocky i s l and , d e s t i t u t e of vege ta t ion and fo rmed o f h a r d s tone . Astone towe r of some sixty feet in h eigh ts tood upo n i t . I t was an anci ent stro nghold and had fal len into considerable disrepa i r. The ga teway had been b r okend o w n or al lowed to be cut up for firewood,and the w o o d e n casem ents had long sinced i sappeared .

CHAPTER X I V. T H E T O W E R ON THE L A K E .

These casements were twe lv e in nu mber,t h r e e on eac h side of the square ; and rou ndthe to p of the tow er t h e r e ran a ston e batt l emen t, for min g a defenc e for the f lat roof.The stones of which the whole w a s c o m p o s e dwere roug hcu t , and l a id one upo n the o th e ra n d c e m e n t e d t o g e t h e r w i t h s o m e m i x t u r ew h i c h h ad b e c o m e l ike conc re te . The ga tew a y was some twe lve fee t abov e the g round ,and had been reached by a s t a i rway, lo ngsince b r o k e n d o w n , or by a l adder whichthe defenders c o u l d dra w up after the y ha den te red .

The to wn of Ghar i Ghi lza i was g uarde db y a d i t ch and mu d wal l s , and was d iv id edin to four por t ions by s t ree t s which c rossedeach othe r in the centre. Th e mai n s t r e e t swere abou t twen ty - f ive fee t wide , but thes ide passages were mos t ly covere d- in a l l eys ,

l i t t le bettor t h a n tunne l s . Desp i t e a l l t h a tth e officers o f A b d u l c o u l d do , these na r rows t r e e t s were d i r ty a nd o f t en ve ry offensive.There were four smal l bazaa rs whic h metin a dome d quadran g le nea r the c en t re o f the town , and in these va r ious c ra f t smenha d t h e i r w o r k s h o p s .

C l o t h se l l e rs , me ta l workers , boo tma ker s ,an d f o o d merchan t s sa t in t h e i r l i t t l e dens ,and a l l day long c rowd s o f peop le th rong edthe p lace , pass ing to and f ro . Some t imesa cam el ca rav an lumber ed th rough , thewi ld Usbeg d r ive r s shou t in g to c lea r thew a y fo r the ca lm, heav y beas t s , usua l ly l edb y a do nk ey whic h paced a long seda te ly inf ron t o f the s to l id - look ing an imals . Largebronze be l l s were a t t ac hed to the camels ,brin ging a kin d of dese rt m usi c into thebazaar.

Wi t h the exc ep t i on o f the de fen ce p lacest h e r e was l i t t l e b r i ckwork , w o o d a n d m u dbe ing used fo r bu i ld ing . F ro m the s t ree t snoth i ng o f the houses c o u l d be seen savet h e i r hea vy mu d wal l s , p ie rced wi th low ,dark doo rwa ys , which g ave en t rance t o anarr ow passag e of so me six ya rds in length,

w h i c h t u r n e d off s h a r p at r ight angles inorder to p reven t anyone hav ing a g l impseof the in te r io r. Imm edi a te ly a t the end o f the passage was a s t ab le cour ty a rd wi ths ta l l s all aro und , and , gene rally , at t he leftano the r dark passag e ab ou t f ifteen yar dsl o n g whi ch opene d in to a l a rge cou r t somes e v e n t y y a r d s b y fifty in ex ten t . Th e wa l l swere pa in ted in b r igh t co lour s , and usua l lyt h e r e were a few t r e e s a n d flower beds , wi tha cistern an d foun tain in the c ent re.

T h e A f g h a n l o v e s the shad e of the trees,a n d will s i t fo r hours , d reaming a nd smo kingin the cour tya r d o f h i s house , unmind fu lo f any thi ng sav e the quie t gurgle of thefoun ta in an d the gen t l e mo ve me nt o f theleaves ab ov e h i s head . T o cu t d o w n t h egroves is to infl ict one of the gra vest punishm e n t s u p o n a n A f g h a n c o m m u n i t y.

R o o m s open off t h i s c o u r t y a r d . T h e yare ve r y ba re ly fu rn i shed . Fe l t and rugsp r o v i d e res t by day and n igh t , bu t the p lac ei s a lways s to cked wi th weap ons o f eve ryk i n d . E v e r y A f g h a n , d o w n to the child ren,i s loa ded wi th p i s to l s and kn ives , and nevergoes out wi th ou t h i s long j eza i l .

T h e co mmu ni t y i s d iv id ed in to fami l i e s ,which l ive toge th e r and a re c l o s e l y re la tedb y in te rmar r i age . Feud s a re c o m m o n w i t hthose ou t s id e the c lan , and every househo ldt a k e s up the b l o o d feud and carries i t onth ro ugh success iv e genera t ions . Th e enem yof th e ch ie f is the e ne my of al l , and h isfriends the fr iends of al l . The re are no signsof w e a l t h a p p a r e n t anywhere , save in thefortress of the ch ie f and am on g h i s imm e d i a t e fo l lowers , fo r the Afgh an i s n a t u r a l l yof a sec re t ive d i spos i t ion and cove tous . If he has posses sions in the shape o f mo ne y or

jewels, he h ides them wi th the mos t j ea lousca re , a s he never know s whe n an ex to r t iona teoppressor may a t t e m p t to depr ive h im of a l l h i s be long ings .

Life is held che ap, for the Af gh an isn a t u r a l l y warlike and of f ierce dis posit ion,



566 The "Boy's Otvn Taper.untruthful and t reacherous to a degreea lmos t unequal led , i f he th inks it is to hisinterest to be so, and bru ta l and ca l lous .He de tes t s war fa re which has to be wagedin the ope n , and mu ch prefers the s tea l thya p p r o a c h w h i c h e n a b l e s h i m t o rush u p o nan unsu spec t in g v ic t im . H e wi l l l i e forday s in some dark co ver t awai t i ng thec o m i n g of h i s ene my, and cons i ders everythin g to be fair in warfare. He will prom ise

a n y t h i n g until he ge ts h i s v ic t im in to h i shands , and then will lau gh at the folly w h i c hgives h im the oppor tun i ty for revenge .

He i s supers t i t ious an d changeab le , stirredi n t o m a d n e s s b y s o m e c u n n i n g l y c o n c o c t e ds tory, and m o v e d Jfco all ki nd s o f desp era teexplo i t s by subt le scheme s . B ut on theoth er han d he has his virtu es, ho is fa ithfulto his salt and stcd fast to his friends, unc o m p l a i n i n g of hardsh ip , an d ready to endureco ld and w oun ds , eve n dea th , fo r h is chief and c lan . He wi l l t rus t a l m o s t b l i n d l y aman who has won h is c o n f i d e n c e ; a n d ,a b o v e all, he loves the b leak , wind-sweptmounta in count ry which i s h i s home, andpat r io t i sm wi l l a rouse in h im the w ors tpassi ons of a fiend and the nob les t herois msof a faithful and bra ve ma n.

Dur ing the years t h a t D o s t M o h a m m e dh a d h e l d p o w e r as K h a n o f K a b u l , A b d u lthe Mul lah and h is people had en j oye d avery cons id erab le measure of c o m f o r t intheir q u i e t m o u n t a i n h o m o , and in somew a y s p r o s p e ri t y a n d i m m u n i t y f r o m a t t a c k h a d m a d e t h e m f o rg e t t h a t A f g h a n i s t a nwas a count ry of dang erous feuds and bitteran imos i t i es . Bo b , o r Lar i Kha n of theD i a m o n d Star, as he was no w ca l led , en te redfully into the life of the peop le and s o o nb e c a m e as wel l kn ow n as tho Mul lah h imse l f .He s tead i ly re fused to b e c o m e a M a h o m -med an, bu t in ever y th i ng e lse he ap peare din no way different fr om the (xhilzais by•vhom he was sur r ounded .

H o was dressed and a rmed in the samew a y, and every week appl ied a s ta in to hissk in in order to concea l t h a t w h i t e n e s swhich o therwise wo ul d have been a co ns ta n tr e m i n d e r t o t h e m tha t he was a Fer ingheeand an in f ide l . He s tud ied their w a y s o f l iv ing , their mod es of tho ugh t and express ionsof speech , and soon no one c o u l d h a v e t o l dt h a t he was no t in every way an Afghanof t h e A f g h a n s . A l t h o u g h t h e y b e l i e v e dt h a t their own methods were bes t in everyth ing , he gradua l ly led them i n to mor ec l e a n l y habi t s , and the abundance of watere n a b l e d h i m t o i n t r o d u c e s c h e m e s w h i c hled to a grea t improvement in the san i ta ryc o n d i t i o n of the l i t t l e tow n.

B o b had a number of a t t e n d a n t s a s s i g n e dt o him and f rom these he gradu a l ly ra i seda fo rce o f o n e h u n d r e d h o r s e m e n , w h ofo l lowed him when he went any d is tance ,a n d b e c a m e a b o d y - g u a r d o f w e l l - a r m e ds e r v i c e a b l e s o l d i e r s . H e d i v i d e d t h e m i n t oc o m p a n i e s o f t o n , a n d a p p o i n t e d l e a d e r s ,c h o o s i n g y o u n g m e n w h o p a s s e d a n e x a m ina t ion , and w ere a l so e lec ted by the vo te of the i r c o m r a d e s . H e d r i l l e d t h e m e v e r y d a yi n h o r s e m a n s h i p a n d m o u n t a i n c l i m b i n g ,and se t up b u t t s for the prac t ice of j eza i ls h o o t i n g .

H e f o u n d t h a t this A f g h a n w e a p o n w a sa n a d m i r a b l e o n e , d e a d l y a t a n y d i s t a n c eup to four hundred yards , and effective, inthe hand s of a sk i l l ed mar ksm an, a t mor et h a n s i x h u n d r e d y a r d s . F o r m a n y d a y she ma de h is men s tu dy d is t ances in orderto be ab l e to ca lcu la te ho w far a mark wasf r o m t h e m , a m a t t e r of cons iderab le d i ff icu l tyin the pure , c lear mou nta in a i r. I t was alabo ur whi ch ca l le d for muc h carefu l d i sc ip l ine , bu t B ob pers evere d , g iv i ng pr izes tot h e b e s t m a r k s m e n a n d m a k i n g al l p r o m o t i o ndep end up on skill in the field.

E a c h officer had a whis t le , by means of which orders were g ive n , and B ob a r rang eda sys te m of s igna l l ing by which messagesc o u l d be sen t ov er grea t d i s tances . Af te rs o m e t ime he had ga thered a round h im mostof the keenes t o f the yo un g men of the t own ,and wi th d i l igen t t ra in ing h a d p r o v i d e d ,fit fo r an y emerg enc y, a band of scout s andh o r s e m e n w h i c h c o u l d h o l d i t s o w n a m o n gany of the Afgh an t r ib es .

One morn ing Amr an Al i and Ta l ib Shereef ,son of a chief w h o r o d e w i t h A k b a r K h a n ,were hunt i ng wi th B ob on the moun ta in sto the nor th of the tow n. Th ey were onf o o t , and f r om a c res t B o b saw the La keShami l sh in ing a lmos t a t their fee t . I t wasa g lor ious da y, the cou nt ry s id e had y ie ldeda g o o d harves t , and tho trees had been ladenwit h fruit . A s the y left Ghar i Ghilz ai the yhad heard the v inedressers s ing ing amongthe v ine yard s and ca l l ing to each o ther in

joyful tone s . As B ob saw the water r ipp l inghe was reminded of the shores of the Manxglen where h i s ear ly c h i l d h o o d had been spent ,and he de te r mine d to go dow n to the lakes ide . Wh en they reached a p lace a lmos to p p o s i t e t h e t o w e r, B o b l o o k e d in vai n fo ra b o a t .

" How do men reach the I s land , Amran ? "he sa id . ' ' Th a t i s a wel l -ou i l t towe r, andthere mus t be some way ' o f ge t t i ng to i t .H a v e yo u no b oa ts ? "

Amran laughed a t the idea ." I have never seen a boat on the lake

whi le I have been in Ghar i . A few menc o m e here to fish from the ban ks, but thetow er is des ert ed and has bee n so for ahund red ye ars . I t i s fa l l ing in to ruin,a l th ough the wal l s a re s t ro ng . I f yo u wantto reach i t , yo u mus t fly across the wate r. "

" F l y o r s w i m , A m r a n , " re turned B o b .w ho w a s s t u d y i n g t h e t o w e r a n d n o t i n gh o w s t ron gly bu i l t i t was . " Can none of you r peo ple swi m ? "

" Alla h forb i d ! " sa id A mr an , wh o d isl i k e d c o l d water, and never indulged in anyt h i n g m o r e t h a n a has t y wash . " W eare men of the mou nta ins , an d not fishes.If there were a br idge we might go over tothe tower, bu t as there i s ne i ther b r idge norboa t we s tay on the rocks her e . "

B o b plac ed h is hands in the water and ,finding t h a t i t w a s o n l y m o d e r a t e l y co ld ,ma de up h is min d to hav e a swi m. Thedis tance was bare ly ha l f a mi le and this hec o u l d do wi th ease . Re t i r ing behind theshelter of a r o c k h e doffed his c lo thes , and ,g i v i n g a shout , ran to the edge and d ivedin to the water. He ca me up abo ut twe ntyy a r d s a w a y, a n d , b e f o r e A m r a n c o u l d ca l lou t , went under aga in and had a long d is tanced i v e . Trea ding water, wi th head an dshoulders we l l ab ov e tho sur face , he turneda smi l ing face u p o n h i s b e w i l d e r e d fo l lowers .

" It is all r ig ht, " he shou ted , " I ' m off tothe tow er. See t h a t n o b o d y runs a w a yw i t h m y c l o t h e s , A m r a n . T h e w a t e r i s

jolly, j u m p i n a n d c o m e t o m e . "B u t A m r a n a n d Ta l i b w a t c h e d h i m w i t h

anxi ous eyes , fo r the y had n ever seen thelike of this m a d f r e a k before .

" He cuts the wate r l ike an a r r ow ," sa idTal ib , " and thr ows i t f r om h i m l ike ami gh ty fish. In a few min ute s he will reac hthe i s land ."

The y saw B o b swi m wi th i n the she l te rof a l i t t le c o v e , and presen t l y c l im b up tothe tow er. In abou t ha l f an hour heplunged in aga in , and was soon dressed ands tanding wi th h i s fo l lowers . H e w a sglowing with the exe rc i se and th e f resh , c o o l

water, and see med like a g ian t re f reshed ." T h a t ' s a s p l e n d i d o l d p l a c e , A m r a n ,

and i t on l y needs a l i t t l e pa tch in g to ma keit a st ron gho ld of the first cla ss. T heflooring inside oug ht to be pu t right, and a

n ew door fitted, wi th steps lead ing up to it,a n d then wi th a fa ir amo unt o f p rovis io ns ,and p l en ty of guns , we could s tand a siegefo r an y leng th of t im e. It is just the placefo r m e . To - m o r r o w I will give the carpenterssome p lans to wo rk f rom, and you shall see aboa t on this lake before ma ny days a re o u t . "

Abdul the Mul lah was qu i te ready to handt h e t o w e r o v e r t o B o b .

" I t i s yo ur s , " he sa id , " do what thou

wilt with i t . I t is useless to me , for my ow nfor t ress i s s t rong enough to res i s t any enemyw h o ma y desire to injure me. Th e oldtower wi l l give t h e e s o m e e x t r a e m p l o y m e n tfo r t h y followers. Ther e i s an a bunda nceof fish in the lake and the water supply cannever be d iver ted . So me day the for t ressmay b e of se rv ice to thee ."

B o b had never made a boa t , bu t he hadseen them built an d me nde d, and he- feltsure t h a t with a l i t t le care he c o u l d des igna boa t somet h ing on the l ines of the Maggie.He set to work and drew up a plan whichho af te rwards t o o k with him to the clevere stw o o d - w o r k e r in the town . Ther e was nolack of sple ndi d mate rial , fo r the hil l-sidesfurn ished an abund ance of t imber and therewas p l en ty of wel l seasoned w o o d .

The carpenter was a sk i l fu l worker,alt hou gh he had nev er tried his han d a tboa t - bu i ld i ng . In less t h a n a month a l lth e par t s of th e bo at wer o finished andcarried to the lake, where a wooden shed hadbeen e rec te d . Wh en the kee l was fixed and.the r ibs p laced in to pos i t ion , the rest wa seasy. Wel l -c u t t imb er form ed the hu l l , anda half de ck was ma de . A set of oars wasmanufa c tured to the des ign of a m a n w h ohad be en in Asi a Min or an d had seen t hewel l -ba lanced oars of the Turk ish boa t men .,\ c o m f o r t a b l e s h e l t e r of felt was put up.and a s turdy p ine pro vid ed bot h mas t andb o w s p r i t .

Wh en the mas t was s tepped , and the sa i l sand ropes a l l fixed for making sa i l , Bob fe l tt h a t he had a craft which c o u l d sail anywhere about the lake wi th per fec t sa fe ty.A b d u l the Mullah and his chief men rodeo v e r to see the b oa t, and a great c r o w d of cur ious people th ro nged the la kes ide .

W h e n B o b w a s r e a d y to c a s t off he calledA m r a n A l i a n d Ta l i b to jo in him. Nei therspoke , bu t he could see how unwi l l ing the ywere to venture f rom the shore .

" C a l l t h e t e n s q u a d r o n l e a d e r s , Ta l i b , "s a i d B o b , " this is par t of their d u t y. I nwi th you , men, ge t ready to haul up the bigsail when I give the wo rd . Cast off fromtho shore , now haul u p t h a t sail at the frontof t h e b o a t . "

T h e b o a t s w u n g s lowly r o u n d , a n d B o bg o t her in to the wind . Ev en wi th the j ibshe made g o o d progress , bu t when the mainsa i l was hauled up she s imply swept a long .Bo b ran her parallel wit h the shore , and wasabout to s teer for the i s land when a loud c rymade h im l o o k r o u n d .

" My lord Abdul des i res to sa i l wi th thee ,"roared a v o i c e ; " c a n y o u c o m e bac k to us ? "

" Ri gh t yo u a re , " s houte d B ob ; ' " ge tr e a d y to ca tch the rope when we c o m e a l o n gside ; the boat is a first-rate o n e . "

A b d u l c a m e o n b o a r d w i t h o u t a c h a n g eof coun ten anc e , a l tho ugh i t was the f ir stt ime in his life t h a t he had been upona vessel . Th ey ran to the islan d in a fewminutes , bu t the Mul lah d id no t wish toland so soon , s o B o b t a c k e d u p a n d d o w nthe lake until t h e chief was satisfied.

T h e y m a d e a com ple te inspec t ion of thet o w e r, a n d n e x t d a y B o b t o o k t h e w o r k m e n

over with the necessary mater ia l s and s tepswere fixed to the rock s , and a s t rong door-,wung at the ent ra nce . Th e flooring wasm e n d e d a n d p o l e s fixed for a felt shelteron th e roof of the tow er.

[I n



(Specially drawn for the " Boy's Own Paper" by IU0ARDO BROOKJ



568 The Boy's Otvn Taper.In less t h a n a week the o ld s t rongho ld

was mad e l ike a new dwell i ng, and a hun dre dm e n c o u l d eas i ly be acc omm oda ted wi th in i t .We a p o n s fo r this numbe r, wi th an abund an ts to re o f ammuni t ion , were ca r r i ed f rom th et o w n , an d a large quantity^ of grain a nd w o o dwas store d in the base ment .

" I want to feel t h a t the tower is my home,m y lo rd , " Bo b sa id to Abd ul as they inspec tedthe pl ace for the last t ime . " Som e day

y o u may be in need of a refuge f rom y o u re n e m i e s . Afzul Ali is no t dead ye t , ands o m e spy will doub tless carry the ne ws toh i m t h a t Lari Khan has r e t u r n e d to theG h i l z a i coun t ry. The name wi l l awakenman y memor ies in h i s mind , and , pe rhapss o m e fears, and if he tr ies t r eachery aga in ,it will bo wise to be well prepared beforehand. Wit h ( if ty men we c o u l d h o l d thist o w e r aga ins t an a rmy."

I t t o o k some mont hs to accus t om h i smen to the use of the b oat , but when theirfears were o n c e dispe l l ed , they s howe d agroat eagerness to b e c o m e expert in i tshand l ing , and o n the whole they succeed ed .B u t their reluc tance to the art of swi mmin gs e e m e d to be insuperable and al l B o b ' s effortsfa i led . H o w e v e r , t h e c o l d of winter puta stop to their t roub les in th i s di rec t ion .W h e n the ic e hel d the la ko in its gri p th ew a y to the tower was easy, and m anyhealthful ho urs were spent on skates an dwi th i ron-bound s l e ighs .

C H A P T E R X V .

.MERKAB, THE SPY OF A F Z U L A L I .

I N the early' p a r t of the nex t yea r Abdulthe Mul lah was sum mon ed by Dos tM o h a m m e d Kha n to Kab u l . He was awaya wee k or mor e, and r e t u r n e d with an anx iousa n d c l o u d e d face . He said nothi ng at thetime to an y of his officers, b u t B o b k n e wt h a t impor tan t even t s were happen ing in

the coun t ry. F ro m t ime to t ime messengersarrived at Ghari Ghilzai f rom Kab ul , and athril l of exc i t ement seemed to be pass ingth rough the p e o p l e .

In July of t h a t year Bob had an unp leasan te x p e r i e n c e whic h reminded h im t h a t h owas not an Afgha n. He was tan ned andb r o w n e d with the sun, and for some weekshad neglected to apply the stain to his skin.On e day in the c o o l of the even ing he wentin to the town , and pass ing th rou gh thebazaar tu rned into a narrow s t ree t w h i c hran near the walls.

A s ho walked along the g l o o m y s t ree t heheard so meone c ry " Fe r inghe e , " and then e x t ins tan t so me of the ro ad sweep ings hith i m on the side of the face . H e tu rnedround in time to see a figure d a r t into a

nar row passage .B o b was a lone ,

but he did not hesit a t e to pursue . Herushed along thepassage , bu t foundn o o n e . R e t r a c i n ghis steps he stoodfo r a moment in thes t ree t , wonder ing i f he had mad e amistake in the part icular al ley d o w nw h i c h the man hadrushe d. H e tr iedano ther, and fo l -l o w e d it unt i l hec a m e into a stablecour t ya rd . In onec o r n e r a number o f r o u g h - l o o k i n g m e nw e r e s i t t ing rounda fire, c o o k i n g theire v e n i n g m e a l .

A t a g lance Bo b saw t h a t they wereAfreedees , Mohmu nds , and camel men f romthe Khy ber . As he s too d in the shadowhe saw t h a t he c o u l d get nearer by makinghis wa y thro ugh the stal ls . Do dg in g pastthe c ame ls, he reac hed the shelter of so mef o d d e r, and lay d o w n .

A keen -face d man , with bright , rest lesse y e s , was speaking in a low tone.

" T h o u d i d s t wel l , Ismail , and yet i t was

foo l i sh to alarm him. I t wou ld hav e beenbe t t e r to have wa i t ed unt i l thy kn i fe c o u l dhav e reac hed him. Ab du l the Mullah is alr ead y a marked man , and Kha n Moh amm edwil l fal l f rom the throne at K ab ul in a feww e e k s ' t ime . A f z u l Ali has mad e al l necessarya r rangements wi th the Douran ees , and soonShah Sh ujah will reign once more . Ho i so n l y a puppe t , who dances when o the r s pu l lthe str ing, but i t suits thy maste r and me nl ike him to have a foo l a t Kab u l . Th i sMul lah mus t f a l l when Dos t Moh amm eddoes , and w hat is left of his to wn and peop lewil l be lon g to the Af ree dees . "

H e l o o k e d into t he faces of the men whoc r o u c h e d besid e the f ire and sa w upon e acha smile of sat isfaction.

" Thes e peopl e of Ghari Ghilz ai hav e grow nfat and rich durin g t he year s when oth ersha ve been fighting. W e are lean up therein the Kh yb er, l ike famished wolves , b uto u r t e e t h ar e sharp and our bell ies areh u n g r y. B e p a t i e n t , Ismail , tho day wills o o n c o m e , a n d then tho u canst let th y rag eaga ins t the Fer inghee t a k e i t s course . "

" Th ou speakest wisel y, Merk ab ; my ra gecarried me away when I saw this Fer ingheed o g walk ing p rou d ly a long , the Dia mon dS t a r shining in his t u r b a n , and wealth andc o m f o r t rust l ing in his garm ents . He isnex t to the Mullah in posi t ion , and thesed o g s of the Ghilzai s serve him as th ou ghthey were s l aves . "

I smai l was a l o w - b r o w e d , power fu l -look ing Afreedee , with long b lack hai r

hang ing abo ut his ears. He had a cruel face,thin- l ipped an d high in the chee k bon es, andhi s t e e t h shone, l ike those of a wolf, in theg l o w of th e fire.

M e r k a b gav e a low laugh . " Th ou art thehand, I am the brain, Ismail ," he said. "Afzu lAl i chose his ins t ruments wisely when heheard t h a t his o ld ene my Lar i Khan hadc o m e bac k to the mounta in s . We kno w nowt h a t i t is not the man he muti late d, buthis son wh o has appe are d. Wh en we giveo u r news to Afzul he wi ll kn ow wha t t o do . "

B o b lay breat hing soft l y behi nd thef o d d e r and wa s ab ou t to cra wl aw ay when asen tence f r o m Merkab made h im c rouchd o w n again and l isten wit h al l his mig ht.

" The Fer inghees a re a l read y th rough theB o l a n and march ing fo r Ghuznee and Ka bul .

Nea r th e ci t y they will be joi ned by ten

— 1

Two Hardi

Annuals.

thousa nd Dour anees who have sworn to h av ethe heads of Dos t Mo ham med and AkbarKh an . Shah Shujah will be place d uponthe throne, and the Feringhees wil l keep,the c i ty qu ie t . Then Afzul Al i with hisAfreedees , and th e Dour ane es, wil l s l ip awayfo r a marc h across the hil ls to Ghari Ghilzait o sett le the long-standing account withA b d u l the Mullah. W e shall at tac k thet o w n in the early mor ning and kil l the men

and ma ke slaves of the wo me n and children .Y o u shall have this Lar i Khan , I smai l , whenAfzul Al i has f inished with him. TheDouran ees wi l l march b ack to Kabu l whenall is over, and the Afreedees will e n j o y t h ewealth of th i s p l a c e . "

Ther e was a murm ur o f sat isfaction f romthe me n, and Isma il drew the edge of hiskni fe gently along his thumb and smiled.

B o b waited to hear no mor e. Glidin g,l ike a snake, f rom the fodder , he succeed edin gaining the stable, and withou t al armingthe men reached the passage and steppedout into the s t ree t . H e t o o k out his knifeand dre w a cross upo n the mu d walls , sot h a t he woul d kn ow the pla ce again, andthen hurried to the bazaar . Here he sawAmra n Al i and Ta l ib saun te ring a long .R a p i d l y he gave them their ins t ruc t ions .

" Brin g twe nty me n, well armed , to th i ss t ree t—" he po int ed to the dark, narr owthoroughfa r e . " Le t them c o m e by twosand threes. Make no alarm and tel l eve rym a n t h a t s i l ence mus t be kep t . Knive san d pistols wil l be used, so yo u can tel l themen to c o m e w i t h o u t their guns. I givey o u ten minutes to gather them. Off withy o u , and remember, let al l be done withabso lu te s i l ence . By the way, Amra n , b r inga dark l an te rn with y ou , fo r s igna l l ing . "

B o b walked quietly into the dark streetand posted himself within easy distance of the passage he had marke d. In less t h a nten minut es his men cam e walking swift lytowards h im. He pos ted five at one end of

th e street a n d five at the other, with orderst o ar res t ever y man wh o cam e out of thea l l e y.

" Can yo u tell me wha t is on the oth erside of the stable, Talib ? These men m ayhav e arrang ed a meth od of escape f rom t h ec o u r t y a r d . "

" There is a long wall , which is the back of the house; i t opens upon the s t ree t w h i c hruns parallel with this , but I do not think there is any d o o r by which a man could g e tf r o m on e to the other . W e can pos t a manthere i f you wish , my lo rd . "

" W e must r isk i t , Tali b. Wh en we ente rthe cour tya rd t a k e five men with yo u int othe st able and endea vou r to get as near thefire as possib le. No t a man mus t escape,r e m e m b e r. A m r a n , t a k e the other five a n d

adv anc e as quiet ly as yo u can . If yo u arec h a l l e n g e d , say yo u are a Khy be ree horse-dealer. Ther e are tw o men who must becap ture d or kil led. Merk ab, a clean-sh avenma n with bright eyes and clev er face, a n dIsmail , an Afreedee. A b o v e all , secureM e r k a b . "

" Yo u may depen d upon us , Lar i K ha n , "whispe red Am ra n. " Are t hey t hieves ? "

" Wo r s e , Amr an ; they are spies of AfzulAli , sent to note our defenc es before an at tac k i s made by a combined fo rce of Douraneesand Afree dees . T he y have sworn to kil le v e r y man in Ghari Ghilzai . Merkab isthe principal man, the sche mer. Ismail isan i n s t r u m e n t . Tak e yo ur place s. I wil lsigna l, with on e flash of the la mp, wh en allis ready for our assault u p o n t h e m . "

Ta l i b and Amran thorough ly unders toodthe business in hand, and entered into i twi th sp i r i t . The y knew t h a t Afzul Ali hads w o r n to be revenged on Ab du l and tha t h ehad long c o v e t e d the r ich lands arou nd Ghari .T h e y crept into posi t ion with the ut mos t



Through Afghan Snotefs. 569

quiet. Th e men, four teen in numb er, werestill sitting roun d the fire. Occa sio nal ly aman rose and went into the stable to a t t e n dt o the horses and camels, but re turned a lmos timmediately and resumed his seat by thefire.

Ta l i b knew what he had to do. Presen tlythe horses beg an to be restiv e, draggi ng a ttheir halters and stamping on the mud

floors." A plague on the beasts," gro wled Ismail ,

" what ails them to-night ? So me of yo ufellows a t t e n d to the m. See wha t istroubling them."

It was really the points of tho knives of Ta l i b ' s men which caused the disquiet a mon gthe horses, but the Afreed ees were no t in thesecret. Six of the men rose and we nt in tothe stable. A l an te rn flash wa s see n in th eg loom of the passage, and immediately afierce struggle began among the horses.

Cries and heavy blows were heard andsudden ly a bright ligh t was seen. One of the men had dropped his torch upon abundl e of hay. It caugh t fire and bla zedfuriously, and in a fe w minute s- the ligh tw o o d w o r k was wr ap pe d in flames.

Meanwhile, Amr an and his men had rus hedu p o n Merkab and Ismail . The Afreedeeswere taken unawares, but they were notflurried, and Amran soon discovered t h a this task would not prove an easy one . Pistolshots rang out and two of the Ghilzaisd r o p p e d . Their death was the signal fora vengeful att ack by Amr an and his th reefollowers. They sprang upon the mengathered by the fire and swep t th em awa ylike chaff.

Pistol and knife did their awful work andthe Ghilzais bec amo ma d with rage . The yscatter ed the fire in all dir ect ion s an d flu ngthemselves upon Mer kab and I smail .Screams of terror resounded f rom the stablesand some terrified horses rushed int o t he

courtyard lashing out with their heels.Amran dashed Ismai l to the gro und and atthe same mom ent struck hi m on the headwith his heavy pistol b u t t .

Merkab leapt at him, but at t h a t ins tan ta pistol cracked f rom the passage where Bobwas standing, and t he Afr eede e staggeredand clappe d his han d to his should er.Casting one fierce glan ce arou nd, Mer kabrushed into tho blazing stable and was lostto sight.

Ta l i b and his companions, breathlesswith the struggle and almost suffocatedwith smoke, emerged f rom the burning shedand ran to the far side of the cou rt yar d.

" We hav e finished the bus ine ss, " Tal ibsaid to B o b , as he saluted. " Tho men fough thard to resist capture, and we were c o mpelled to smite hard in order to save ourow n lives. One man dropp ed his torc h intothe hay, and set the stabl es on fire. W etried to loose the came ls but the brute s

j u m p e d about so t h a t we c o u l d not. IsAmran Ali safe, my lord ? "

A t tha t moment Amran himself drewnear. He was bleeding f rom many wounds ,and was trembling with rage and excitement.

" We have lost four men," he said, " bythe knives of these dogs , and the leader hasflung himself into the burni ng stable. Wh atmust we do now , Lari Kh an '! The came lsand horses are d o o m e d , for the fire hascaught everything, and we must get awaybefore the whole place is consumed."

" Carry th e' bodies of our men awa y.

Ta l i b , and fling the others into the stab le,"he added, turning to his com rad e. " Wod o not want tho town to know everythinga b o u t this mat te r. Afzul Ali may haveother spies in our midst, and they wouldsuspect something if they saw the bodiesof their friends."

" Ri ght ," said B ob ; " it is a hard thing

t o do , bu t th i s mat te r must be kep t secret .A n d , Am ra n, it wou ld be better if the bodi eso f our comrades c o u l d be concealed also.T h e s t ree t is c r o w d e d with excited peorjlew h o hav e rush ed out to see the fire. Sayt h a t our friends have been killed in t ryi ngt o put out the fire, and wrap the bodies up.D i d t h a t scoundrel Merkab get away ? "

" In to the fire," repl ied Am ra n with a grin .

" C o m e alo ng the n; in an hour or so the plac ewill be dark again, the fire will soon burn out.To - m o r r o w we will search for Merkab."

A n e x c i t e d c r o w d h a d b l o c k e d th e street,but the men were waiting for Bo b and theothers, and they mar ched awa y to thecastle.

In the morning the th ree re turned to theb l a c k e n e d ruins of the stable. At one end,near the pla ce where Merka b had dart edin, they found an open d o o r, leading into apassage. " By All ah, " said Amr an when

he saw it, " the villain has esca ped ! Hek n e w of this, and t h a t is wh y he leaped i ntothe burni ng stabl e ! "

(To be continued.)

B O Y S O F ZIJL.IJL.AMD. T h e " U m f a a n " i n T o w n a n d i n t h e B u s h .

By H.

TH E R E are few b o y s on e a r t h who l ivea happier or more health y life t h a n

the young Zulus in the i r na t ive s t a t e . T h ewhite people in South Afr ica invariably calle v e r y Zulu " bo y, " even thoug h he ma y bea centenari an ; and if he be a servan t in ahouse ho is add res sed as " Ji m " in nin eeases out of ten. But the you ng bo y isusually addressed as "umfaan," whi ch in theZ u l u language means " He-w ho-h as-n oty e t - b e c o m e - a - m a n . " To the urn/arm, lifeis one long , delirious, roll icking holiday, withn o schools and with all the sport he and his

' . HOLT.

nothing to do all his days but amuse himself and practise the art of handling wea pon s.

A t the age of ten a Zul u chi ld can th ro wa stick with unerring aim at a bird and killi t nearly ever y t ime at a distance of a doze nyards. He then proudly bears his preyb a c k to his parents ' kraa l , and the familyhav e the lu xu ry of a little meat . Mea t is ara r i ty for them, for they cannot often affordit and live alm ost ent irel y on " meal ie p o o p , "a sort of porridge made out of crushedInd ian cor n—a ver y pa la tab le though as o m e w h a t monotonous d i sh .

A Zulu Rickshaw Boy.

friends can find in the wi ld, lon ely regi onin which they l ive .

Z u l u b o y s b e c o m e practical , in their o w nw a y, at a very early stage, learning how tokil l birds for the pot, and small game, whilethey are little more t h a n babies. Theirfavourite weapons are st icks, and by thetime they are six years old they have a veryfair idea how to defend themselv es againstanother bo y similarly armed, and how tobea t d o w n another b o y ' s defence . Unt i lthe Zu lu war of 1879 the nat ive s were am a g n i f i c e n t fighting nati on, bu t alt hou ghtheir power has gone now the umfaan instincti vely learns ho w to handle a thick st i ck,and as he grows up he gets accustomed tow i e l d i n g the fo rmidab le knobker ry—a shor ts t i ck with a hea vy kn ob at the end. He has

T h e Zulus keep catt le, but they never kil lthem for eating purposes, thou gh they arev e r y f o n d of stealing the white farmer 'ssheep and calling in all the i r friends for whatthey call a " meat -eat ." On those occasio nse a c h man co nsum es ten t imes as muchmutton as any white man could eat,after whi ch he sleeps off the effects.

I t is the proud est ambi tio n of ever yumfaan to gain possessi on of an ox. H e

is a ne 'er-do-well unt i l he has grown olde n o u g h to work and earn tho price- of on eof these animals, for he can never marr yunt i l he has one. Wi th it he bu ys his wifef rom the lady's father. A c c o r d i n g to thec u s t o m of the co unt ry she is hardl y consul tedon the po in t so lo ng as her suitor can pa yan ox for he r.

http://zijl.ijl.amd/

http://zijl.ijl.amd/



570 The "Boy's Otvn Taper.

Near the to wns —wh ich as a ru le wou ldbe regarded as very rura l v i l lages by Eng l i shf o l k — t h e Z u l u b o y s have to wear c lo th ingf r o m the neck to the knee, but in the back-b l o c k s t h e y r u n a b o u t n a k e d , g o i n g q u i c k l yand fear less ly through l ong grass whi ch awhi t e man wo ul d cross very g inger ly ona c c o u n t of the ma ny snakes t h a t a b o u n dthere . Bu t the Zulu chi ld wou ld be awareof the presence of a snake, in spite of his

appare nt indi fference , long before the m orecaut i ous whi te . Th ey are a l l t e r r i fied of snakes , perhaps even more so t h a n t h eE n g l i s h m e n o u t there are , but there is bornin the m the habi t o f keepi ng a c ons t antl o o k - o u t for rep t i les .

Eve n the yo un g chi ldren are wonde rfu l l yobse rvan t , and an umfaan ten years oldw o u l d pause abrupt ly i f ten yards awa y in thegrass , swaying wi th the wind , a few bladesa p p e a r e d t o m o v e in the wron g d i rec t ion . Awhi te man w ou ld not sec it at first , even if i t wore poin ted out to h im, but the umfaan'sins t inc t te l l s h im there is some thi ng to bewar y of , even t hou gh he had n ot beenth ink ing of the po ss ib i l i t y of snakes and wasi n t e n t only on the pursu i t of something e lse .

Perhaps the umfaan' 3 chief j o y i n life iswh en he is first permi tte d to hand le a nduse an assegai, whi ch is the Zul u wa rrio r 'schief f ight ing weapo n, and cons is t s of ath in bla de fasten ed to a lon g slend er shaft.I t wi l l neve r be kno wn how man y l ives havebeen t a k e n dur ing the last c e n t u r y w i t hassegais , bu t the number probably fa r

•exceeds a m i l l i o n . T h e m o s t d e a d l y w e a p o nis the s tabb ing assegai , whi ch i s r a t h e rt h i c k e r than the throwing assegai, but i t is

A s a result of this hea l thy, open-a i r trainingt h e y g r o w e x c e e d i n g l y h a r d y, a n d d e v e l o pin to men who can c o v e r fifty or sixty milesa day on foo t , a t a loping ga i t , wi tho utany appare nt e ffor t .

O n l y a few mon ths ag o the wr i te r w asr id ing through Zulu lan d on horsebac k ando n severa l occas ions l i t t l e Zulus , perhapsten or eleve n years o ld, saw him co mi ng intho d is tanc e and bou nde d o ver the ve ld to

in tercept h i m. Th ey wou ld h ide in a shyfashion as the horseman came near, a n d thenrun after him for miles , for no earthly reaso n.T h e y ran without any effort , calling outo c c a s i o n a l l y in the Zul u tongue " Whi tema n, " and when t i red of the game t heyt u r n e d bac k and mad e off to their o w n kraa l .There was more exc i tement for them to seea whi te man in cent ra l Zulu land t h a n t h e yhad had for many a long month .

It is one of the tra diti ons of the Zu lust h a t the i r men should do no w o r k — i f t hew o m e n can poss ib ly do i t for them. Upto a comp ara t ive ly recent da te the men wereo n l y fighters, bu t the y certain ly kn ew wellh o w to fight, and barbarous methods weree m p l o y e d to ma ke the m fearless. One firmrule was t h a t i f a na t ive reg iment wen t o utt o bat t le an d re turned defea ted , every manin it was killed by order of tho Zul u king .Eve n i f the reg imen t were v ic tor i ous ever ym a n w h o re turned without his shield andspear was put to d eath .

Life for them was a lmost made up of fighting in tho se da ys , so me n had litt let ime or inc l ina t ion for wor k . Bu t theinfluence of the whi te man has mad e a greatdifference.

A Zulu Boy w i t h a Bush Par ty.

t he la t te r weapon which is the pride of theZulu yo ut h . B y the t ime he i s ten yearsol d he can generally hit an o b j e c t the sizeo f a bucket 20 yards away, or a man 40 yardsaw ay, six tim es out of seve n ; and he l aughsdel i ghted ly a t the fu t i le e ffor t s of whi te ment o e m u l a t e h i m .

T h e umfaatCs play-ground cons is t s of count less mi les of ve ld , ove r whi ch he andhis f r iends wan der a t p leasure , up mou nta i ns lopes and do wn in to r iver-swept va l leys .Ins tead of learn ing Greek verbs the yo un gZ u l u s s t u d y nature , and when the y havel i v e d onl y a very few years the y kno w eve rytiny hill and dale within miles of their kraal.

T h e Z u l u b o y s are ver y fascina ted b yEuro pean c lo th i ng . Th e wr i te r had as e r v a n t w h o o n c e obta ined a pa i r of well-w o r n b r o w n b o o t s . T h e y w e r e c o n si d e r a b l yt o o small for him, but t h a t did not deter himf rom wear ing them . Wi th the ass i s tanceof two o ther na t ives he squeezed h is fee t in to

them. I t mus t have been a ver y pa infu lprocess, even thou gh the Zulu s' feet areas h a r d as nails, but o n c e he got them on,he kept th em there , and never t o o k them off aga in unt i l they were worn ou t .

The Zulus cannot obta i n mon ey for c lo thes ,and o ther l i t t l e luxur ies of c iv i l i sa t ion ,wi t hout worki ng for i t , so dur ing the last

d e c a d e or so the y have drifted mo re int othe t own s wher e the y act as servants andr ickshaw b o y s . The rickshaw boy hasa m a z i n g s t rength and endurance, when helikes to exercise the m. He will pull hisminia ture c ab abou t the streets, often witha co upl e of wei ght y passengers in at once , fo rfourte en or sixteen hours a day , his farebeing abo ut threepence for a quar te r of ami le . He has to pa y a coup le of shill ings

a day to hire the rickshaw, but in threemont hs he makes and saves enoug h mon eyto keep him in affluence for the rest of the ye ar ; and it is a ver y rare thing toron e of the se " b o y s " to stop away fromhis native kraa l m o r e than a few mon ths ata t ime.

W h e n he has saved a li t t le money thoZulu boy packs all his worldly possessionso n his shoulders, and sets out on foo t fo rh o m e . In order to get there he ma y haveto walk ove r tw o hund red miles of roughcou ntr y, but ho doe s so cheerfully, oft enplaying a mouth-organ or a cheap concer t inam o s t of the wa y to beguile aw ay the t ime.W h e n he gets back to his beloved kraal hesettles down to a good s ix months ' ho l iday,durin g whic h time he lies abo ut, w rapp edin a blanket, only put t ing on his Europ eanclo thes occas ional l y, when he wants tocapt i va te the ey e of a Zulu maiden , or makehis sca t te red ne ighbo urs jea lo us .

T H E C Y C L I S T ' S A L P H A B E T .

B y E AY M O N D L . N Y E .

A d j u s t you r brakes carefu l ly.Bew are of broke n g lass when r id ing .C l e a n y o u r m a c h i n e t h o r o u g h l y n o w a n d

a g a ; n .

Dur ing greasy weather, 'ware s ides l ips ,

espec ia l ly on t ram-l ines .Easy goin g i s mad e s imple by the ad di t ion

of a var iab le gear.F o r rus ty handle bars, and other worse

p l a t e d par ts , use b lack enamel .Grease a l l b r ight p a r t s o f y o u r cyc le dur ing

the winter months .H a l t ! w h e n a n a c c i d e n t o c c u r s in w h i c h

y o u a r e c o n c e r n e d .I m p r o v e you r r id ing qual i t ies by us ing

y o u r machi ne dur ing the winter.J u s t g i v e all bearings a few drops of oil

every 50 miles or so.K e e p your tyres fully inflated.Life is added to a c y c l e by g iv ing i t p roper

a t t e n t i o n .

M u d - f l a p and fro nt exten sio n are tw o usefuladdi t i ons for a l l -weather r iders .

Nev er leave you r machi ne unat tended int h e s t ree t .

O i l y o u r ch a i n t h o r o u g h l y .Punc ture s should bo a t tend ed t o a t once ,

n o m a t t e r ho w smal l they be .Q u e r y. D o y o u r i d e r e g u l a rl y 1 I f not ,

w h y not ?

Repai r out f i t should a lways be car r ied , i f y o u don ' t wai . t to ge t s t randed.

Sides l ips ma y be e l iminat ed by us ing s tudde dt y r e s .

T r i m y o u r l a m p w i c k s wel l .

Use a cyc lom ete r i f yo u wou ld l ike tok n o w ho w far you r ide .

Vase lin e is a useful articl e to prev ent plate dp a r t s f r o m b e c o m i n g r u s t y.

We a r wool c lo th i ng nex t the sk in whenr id ing .

X a m i n e al l bo l t s and n u t s no w and again .Ya r d s m o r e c o u l d be wr i t ten . No mor e

s p a c e a l l o w e d . 'Nuff



571

A S t o r y o f T h r e e C h u m s a n d a

S t a r t l i n g Q u e s t .

By F. H. BOLTON,

Author of " In the Heart of the Silent Sea," etc.

" i N D no w," said Mr. Hut ton , dr awing his J\_ cigar-case and offering the con ten ts t o

his visitor, " shall we stroll ro un d an d t a lk things over, or do you prefer s i t t ing here fora chat 1 "

" A stroll by al l mean s," answered B r a n teagerly. " I am inclined to the opinion tha t

we meet our best thou ghts often under theopen skies."Th e other b o w e d . He l iked the man and

his quick, stirr ing vivac i ty. As they passedthrough the glass-framed conser vato ry whichmade a pleasant en tran ce t o the ho use , hofelt something of his new companion's hopefu l energy coming again to him. I t was nothis ordinary nature to be depressed for long ;but let i t be remembered how h a r d a b l o whad been dealt h im.

" Y o u c o m e along too , my b oy ! " he called,as Morris, feeling tha t he might possi bly beconsidered in the wa y, was prepari ng toturn up the garden p a t h in the oppositedirecti on to the on e in whic h th ey wereg o i n g . " W e shall wan t you r help beforewe've got very far."

Fo r a time tho th ree strolled along insilence, out of the ground s and in to the roa dleading up from the shore to higher lan da m o n g stone- walled fields an d pleas antcopp ices . Morris and Mr. Hutt on were fullo f sad thoughts, and Mr. B r a n t felt it on lyright to respect the i r reserve unt i l such t imeas they might wish to speak.

" Heigho ! " excl aime d Mr. Hut ton atlength. " We' re a sorry party, I ' m afraid.I m u s t n ' t let things weig h to o heavily, in myselfishness. An d y e t — "

They were about to turn f rom the roadwaytowards a small piece of woodland , th roughwhich access was gained to the gro und overlook ing the channel and north end of theb a y. This had been a favourite walk of the

lad whose absence the father was feeling sokeenly—a walk he oftentimes himself hadt a k e n in his b o y ' s c o m p a n y.

" — A n d yet," —his eye glistened ; thenimpu l s ive ly baring his head, and l oo ldngupward, he spoko w i t h d e e p e m o t i o n :" Please Go d, we shall see him aga in safe andsound amongst us al l ! "

T o which the others added a lo w butheartfelt " A m e n . "

" Wha t I sh ould l ike to ask, " said B r a n t ,after a few fu r ther seconds of si lence, " ise x a c t l y h o w mat te r s s tand now ? "

W h e r e u p o n , be tween them, as theyc o n t i n u e d the i r walk, bot h Morris and Mr.

Hut ton place d before him all the facts andman y of the theories in the case, begi nningwith t h a t ever- to -be - remembered a f t e rnoonf rom which, r ightly or wrongly, Morrishad in his own mind determined t h a t th epresent s t a t e of things h ad f o l l o w e d . T h i sencou nter on the canal banks , had, of course, been known to the schoo lmas te r,making as i t did the t a l k of the schoo l at theti me ; but he waited f or the c lose of the i rn a r r a t i v e before mak ing any remark. Hisfirst c o m m e n t , h o w e v e r , s ta r t l ed both theo the rs cons ide rab ly.

" Yo u s a y y o u ' v e put the m a t t e r in thehands of the po l i ce , and yet i t appears t h a t am o s t impor ta n t chanc e has been over looked . "

" A n d tha t is I "" B l o o d h o u n d s ! "H e snap ped ou t the wor d with one of his

characterist ic bursts .Mr . Hut ton s topped on the ins tan t ." My word, sir, y o u ' v e hit it at the very

first! Somehow, with al l our anx iet y andt h o u g h t th i s course has not occ urr ed to anyof u s . "

B r a n t shook his head desp onden t ly ." I t ' s too l a te no w, " he said : " the re c a n

be p o o r cha nce of success after the la pse of so ma ny day s ; but i t might be tr ied. Iough t to hav e thou ght of i t myself , and c o mmuni cate d the suggestion at o n c e . But, asusual , I was to o wrap t up in my ow n l i t t leaffairs ."

Mr . Hut to n pu l l ed ou t hi s wa tch . Theinstinct o f the business man was gett i ng the

upper hand ." In half an hou r," he excla ime d, " the re ' s

a t rain to Carnda le . "H e l o o k e d at Morris ." I would go ," he con t inue d , " bu t t h a t

I a m rather anxious not to leave Mrs.Hut t on jus t now, more t han is absolutelynecessa ry. "

CHAPTER X I . A GLEAM OF LIGHT.

" Let m e ! " c r i ed Leon ard eager ly." I'll be off at o n c e , and see the m at thepo l i ce h e a d q u a r t e r s a b o u t i t . "

Even as they were speaking al l t h r e e h adt u r n e d inst inctively to retrace t h e i r f o o tsteps, and were hurr ying back tow ard s thevil lage.

"I t ' s the poore s t and t h i n n e s t o f c h a n c e s , "said B r a n t , " at th i s t ime of day ; and I

wish with al l m y h e a r t I had entertain edthe idea earl ier. Yo u must get some thin gwhich yo ur son has worn lately for Morristo t a k e w i t h h i m . "

T h e y struc k smartly u p the walk to thehouse , and Mr. Hut ton caugh t a t a j ack e tfrequen tly worn by the lad. I t washang ing upon the s tand in the entrance'hall , where last its owne r had flung it .

" W e will say no th ing ye t to Mrs . Hut tonand Phyll i s ," he remar ked, as they hurriedaway aga in towards the s t a t ion . " T h e yhave had quite enou gh of anx iety andbroken hopes . I wond er, " he added , as atho ugh t struc k him, " I wond er if houndswould be of an y assista nce al so in our

recent burglary business. S o m e h o w, I ' v e g o ti t into my head t h a t the re ' s a c o n n e c t i o nbetween these tw o things. W e st i l l havethe knife tha t w a s f o u n d . "

B r a n t shook his head." I don ' t th ink the re ' s the sl ightest p o s

sibil i ty of any su ccess in t h a t d i r e c t i o n , "he answe red. " The seent would b e gonelong s i n c e . "

T h e y reach ed the stat ion with barely twominute s to spare. Leo nar d hurried ly b o o k e dand en t ra ined .

" Stay al l night if necessa ry, and wire ato n c e wha t i s p ro pose d , " sa id Mr. Hut ton ." I don ' t kno w whe ther hounds a re p rocurab le . There ' s Mr. Eversha w of Thwai teL o d g e , abo ut tw o miles out of Carndale, w ho

had o ne, I k n o w ; bu t whether he st il l has.I can not say. An d I believe he himself is atpresent on the Conti nent. Sti l l , yo u mig htremind tho p o l i c e of the pos sibil i ty of gett ing one there. An d ask the m if theyh a v e t aken steps on my let ter as to doub l ingt h e r e w a r d . "

" I'll sec to it, sir. I' m on ly too thankfu l



572 The 'Boy's Obvn Taper.t o have the c hance of doin g someth ing rea l lyuseful," cried Leonard earnestly, as the t ra inm o v e d off.

" I b lame mysel f severe ly," sa id Mr.Brant as he and Mr. Hutton re turneds lowly to Grayle Hall, " tha t I have been som u c h imm ers ed in m y ow n affairs. Ha dI only g iv en ear l ie r thought t o th i smat te r "

" My dear sir," in te r rupted h i s c o m p a n i o n ," tha t y o u h a v e c o m e at all is a thing forou r s incerest gra t i tude . Y o u have nocause fo r self-up braiding : i t is to us whohave been bend ing our whole energies tothis distressing t a s k t h a t b lame must beimput ed. There i s another mat ter in whichI fear I have been remiss. I oug ht to hav easked yo u earlier tho ques tion I no w put ,whether yo u wou ld care to cons ult wi th thepol ice . I ought to have offered y o u t h eoppor tuni t y to go wi th you ng Morr is , hady o u so desired. Bu t ti l ings have been alitt le confused with me the last d a y o r t w o ;I 'm af ra id I 'm get t ing o ld-wo manish ! "

M r. Brant l o o k e d at the handsome, k indlyface, keen and alert in spite of the c l o u d of sorrow which had perfor ce settled on it ,and smi led gent ly.

" M y d e a r s i r , " h e e x p o s t u l a t e d , " y o umust no t allow my prese nce to be to yo uanything bu t a he lp . Yo u must not addon e atom to your own heavy worry byt roubl ing abo ut me. I assure yo u I a mo n l y too ready to be left entirely out of y o u r considera t ion , except when you th ink I can be of an y help. An d as for the pol ice ,let me say at once , tha t I am not in theslightest degree wishful of being l o o k e d u p o neither as a c olle ague or a rival in t h a tquar ter. I came simply as a friend, if youwill al low me to say so , of your boy, onhear ing that yo u wou ld like to see me . Assuch , and o nl y as such, please t rea t m e . "

" Than k you ," answered the o ther warml y." A f t e r all, real friends are be yo nd all priceat times such as th is."

A t lunch Mr. Brant w as in t rod uced t oP h y l l i s : Mrs. Hut ton had begg ed to beexcused . Inde ed, ever s ince the shoc k of her son 's d isappearance the p o o r lady hadkept her r o o m , and what t ears h a d flowedthere , or what prayers had thence ascendedt o th e F a t h e r W h o seeth in secret, is noconcern of others . But to-da y Phylli s, at hermother ' s reques t , had c o m e to preside atthe table in ho nou r of her father 's guest.F o r her own sake, to o, she was anx iou s tohave speech with the master o f wh omDennis had had so muc h to say. An dtherefore, with eyes t h a t were , perhaps ,a little less bright t h a n usual—so manypitiful t ears had fallen from them these lastfe w days—and cheeks t h a t wer e a litt le

paler t h a n usual, tho bon ny girl entered thedin ing-room, and was presented by herfather.

" My Phyl l i s , " he had sa id , s imply ; andBrant had b o w e d with a cour tesy t h a t w o u l dhave impressed p o o r Den nis himself, hadhe been present.

" We have heard such lo ts about you,"said the girl , as they t o o k their seats at thetable, " t h a t I seem to have known you qui tea long time , Mr. B r a n t . "

Sh e l o o k e d across at him as she spoke, andher l ips twi tched o n c e or twice , thou gh shekept brave hold on her voice . T h e schoolmaster smiled.

" A h ! b o y s are talkativ e creatures attime s," he said laug hingl y, " and are to o

m u c h inc l ined to unreasoning forms of heroworship , I fear."

" No t a bit of it ! " in te r rupted M r.Hut ton. " B o y s n e v e r th ink , and cer ta in lynever speak , highl y of a ny one unless there ' svery g o o d grou nd for doi ng so . They ' re toom u c h of Vandals for t h a t . "

" Well , any way ," sa id the g i r l , " theyseem to have g iven you a charac ter qu iteo u t o f t h e o rd i n a r y. W h y , D e n n i s " —he r voice caught, but with a pitiful l i t t lesmi le she rega ined maste ry ove r herself—" Dennis used to say he didn't believe therewas anythi ng y ou coul dn' t do, if yo u realbyt r i e d . "

She s topped and l o o k e d s t ra ight at h im.Her g lance was a whole-souled p le adin g;Brant felt its force almost wi thout thewords t h a t fo l lowed.

" Oh, Mr. B r a n t ! H e had such faith iny o u . Y o u will t race h im, won ' t yo u ? "

H e c t o r B r a n t m o v e d uneasily. He feltalmost as an impostor before her.

" Wi t h G o d ' s help , Miss Hut ton ," heanswe red reverently, " he will, I d oub t not ,be fou nd. Bu t as for me, I wish indee d t h a thalf th e g o o d thoughts you r dear brotherhad of me were justif ied."

It was this strange faith in him which theyall seemed to enter ta in tha t led to his talk

DO YOUR BEST.

T HINK the good,And not the clever;

Thoughts are seedsThat grow, for ever

Bearing richest fruit in life.Such alone can make

The thinkerStrong to conquer in the strife.

Love the good,And not the clever,

Noble men—

The world can neverCease to praise the good they've done.

They alone the trueWh o gather

Harvests which their deeds have won.

Do the good.And not the clever,

Fill thy lifeWith true endeavour;

Strive to be the noblest man.

Not what others do.But rather

Do the very best you can.

with Mr. Hu tto n wh en onee again the tw owere alone together.

" There is one direct question I wish toask y ou ," he said. " 1 was, perhap s,ra ther a b r u p t when yo u began to expla inthe reason for wiring me, at our first meetingthis morn ing. I ask yo ur pard on, but inproffering somethin g of the explanat ion duefo r my conduct , I c rave your k ind indulgence .Bu t firstly, a m I corr ec t in ass umi ng t h a ty o u n g Morris has given you the impressionthat I have means at ray disposal forrendering assistance such as are not generallyavailable ? "

Mr . H u t t o n n o d d e d a c q u i e s c e n c e ." It is as you conjecture," he replied.

" And I must plead guilty myself to someinquisit iveness as to the real cause for this."

" Then, in saying t h a t I am not in apos i t ion to sho w grou nds for such a faith,

I must ask your pardon still further. T h et r u t h is—I will be perfectly frank with y o u —I am at present making researches andinquiries in certain directions in science,th e results of which I am not yet free tostate. Until I have things properly underm y con tro l I am desirous of maintai ning the

utm ost reserve on the subj ect. Inde ed, myr a n d o m talk to the lads last term, whichmade for the moment such a stir a m o n g s tthem, has set me thinking that perhaps I amgetti ng a li t t le to o garrulous. I have anintense contempt for the fellow who loseshis head ; and I don 't want to lose mineb y undue boastfulness over trifles."

Mr . H u t t o n b o w e d in full agreement." I am at one with you there, sir," he

said : then added with a smile, " but I feelsure t h a t yo u are unnecessar i ly mis judgingy o u r s e l f . "

Jus t befor e the hour at which the telegraphoffice c losed th.i t evening a message wasbroug ht to the Hal l . Mr. Hut ton waswalking about the grounds wi th the schoolmaster as the boy appro ached. He tore openthe en velo pe in quick eagerness , then s h o o k his head as he handed the paper to hisc o m p a n i o n .

B r a n t r e a d a l o u d :

" Have got hound and made exper iment .D o g seem ed at fault for a long time. Go tat last to quay : wandered on both sides,then lost scent again. P o l i c e d o n o tth ink anything f resh gained. Returnt o - m o r r o w. — M o r r i s . "

" H ' m ! " he said. " I feared as muc h.But we won 't lose hop e, sir ; we wo n' t loseh o p e . "

" T h a n k y o u , " w a s t h e q u i e t r e p l y, " f o rthos e cheer ing wor ds. I am glad I havesaid nothing to Mrs . Hut ton and Phyl l i s .T h e y think Leo nar d has gon e off merelybecause he was r estless."

To g e t h e r the two spent the even ingdiscussing the affair in all i ts aspects, butunab le to see an y fresh way of solv ing themyste ry. Th e hours passed, and a l l hadre t i red exc ept themselves . Mr. Hut ton wasabout to sugges t t h a t perhaps his friendmight also wish to go to rest, when Brantspoke , s u m m i n g t h e m a t t e r up tersely.

" There ' s evid ence , I imagine , of somed e e p cun nin g here ; track s seem to be sor e m a r k a b l y c o v e r e d . I dismiss any thou ghtof th e b o y ' s h a v i n g c o m e to griof alone . T om y mind, he has undoubtedly fa l len in tothe hands of some evi l -d isposed person.N o w, sir, we kno w, of cour se, of tha t affairwi th the barge man, and of the man 'ssubsequ ent appear ance a t Carn dale ; but Imus t ad mit , as things are, i t is difficult tobr ing home anything to him. H a d y o u rb o y any other en emy ? "

" No ne . Wh y should he ? " answeredthe father. " Th e lad was not one to hav eenemies , sir : h e was as lov ab le a lad as yo uw o u l d m e e t a n y w h e r e . "

" Tr u e ! T h e q u e s t i o n then remains ,have yo u, s i r, any en emy wh om yo u mightsuspect ? "

Before reply c o u l d be made the hall bellrang o u t l o u d l y.

" Good ness me ! " excla imed Mr. Hutton , ri s ing has t i ly. " Who eve r can that b e ,at this hour ? "

T h e servants having retired, he crossed thehall to tho d o o r himself, Bran t standing inreadiness in the do or wa y of the r o o m . Asecond peal fo l lowed ere he had time todraw the bol ts . The d o o r of Mrs . Hu t ton ' sr o o m upstairs ope ned, and her voice wa sheard ca l l ing to her husba nd in t rembl inga n x i e t y.

" Wh at is i t ? W h o is it ? Are yo ud o w n there, Jam es ? "

" Ye s ! Ye s ! " he called bac k. " It 's

all righ t, de ar. " Hi s fingers ma de fever ishhas te with the fastenings.

H e had to cross the conservatory f romthe hall to reach the outer glass-door, andthough the night was dark he c o u l d see thefigure of a y o u n g fellow outs ide . For them o m e n t hi s hear t beat wil dly, but as th e

http://th.it/

http://th.it/

http://th.it/





57 4 The "Boy's Otvn Taper.

T h e S o n o f a n

A T a l e o T S t r a n g e M y s t e r y a n dW i l d A d v e n t u r e .

By W. A. B. CLEME NTSON,M.A.,

Author of " A Cov-ple of Scamps," etc.

asked .

" 1 \ T A D A M EM A E I E T T E , " said Paolo, as s o o n

-"1- as th ey wer e alo ne. " I wan t to ask

y o u a ques t ion ; I hope you don ' t mind .

Wha t are they g oing to do with me ? "

This t ime, to Pao lo ' s surprise, Mariet te

was not angry , but she hesi tated and seemed

distressed.

" Y o u kno w somet hing ? " he said. " Mr.

Pierre has just told yo u somet hing a bout

me ? "

" I t m ay be al l r igh t ," replied the wo man .

" The y haven ' t qu i t e dec ided wha t to do

wi th you ye t . "

" Bu t I a m in dan ger , am I no t ? " said

Pao lo , de te rmined to know the wors t .

" Y o u kn ow I am. Th ey are talking of ki l l ingm e . "

Mariet t e was abo ut to l ie to him, but some

t h i n g che ck ed her and she said, " I m ay as

well tel l you the t ru th , as yo u arc a br ave

bo}". T h e y are t h ink ing o f k i l l i ng you . "

Paolo went very white, though he was not

unprepared for this .

" H o w wil l th ey d o it ? " he

" D o y o u t h i n k i t wil l be s o o n ? "

Bu t Mari et te was si lent , for her

though t s t roub led he r.

Sudd enl y Pao lo rose fro m his

chair, and, seizing her arm, l o o k e d

her full in the face .

" Tell mo al l about i t ," he cried.

" I have a r ight to kno w. I prom ise

y o u I won' t make a fuss and you

see I cannot escape."

Mar ie t t e , deep ly m o v e d , c o v e r e d

her face with her h a n d s to hide

P a o l o ' s pleadi ng eyes fro m her

eight; but h oldi ng her by the wrists

he pu l l ed them away gen t ly.

" Yo u mus t t e l l me , " he c o n

tinu ed. " I t h i n k I ough t to know

all, a s pe rhaps I haven ' t much

longer to l ive . Yo u canno t r e fuse

m e a l i t t l e th ing l ike t h a t . "

S u d d e n l y, t o P a o l o ' s a m a z e m e n t ,

Mar ie t t e th rus t him fr om her and

b u r s t i n to t ea r s ." Is i t anyt hin g very dre adful

t h a t the y are going to do to me ? "

he a sked , more anx ious than e v e r

t o l ea rn his fate. " Y ou seem

afraid to tel l me. Bu t I can s t a n da g o o d dea l , you know . I am

no t very afraid of dyi ng— tha t is—•

i f—if thoy k i l l me qu ick ly. "

Mar ie t t e l o o k e d up when he said

this , gazing at him wit h a tear-

stain ed face ; then calming herself

wit h a great effort she sai d: " Ve ry

wel l , I wil l tel l yo u al l . The

a n a r c h i s t s have ma do a plo t to

e n t r a p y o u r f a t h e r , who , i t s eems ,

is afte r all no t hi the i r hands, andthey wil l tel l him t h a t if he resists

o r t r i e s to esca pe the m in any w ay,

y o u will be pu t t o d e a t h before the

sun r ises."

Paol o was si lent , but qui te com -

CHAPTER X X I . T H E DEATH SIGNAL.

p o s e d , t hough h i s h e a r t was ful l of dis

qu ie t ing though t s ; so Mar ie t t e wen t on :

" I f yo u a re t o d i e to - mor row morn ing ,

s o m e o n e will wave a l an te rn th ree t imes on

the hi l l over the re at one o ' c l o c k before it is

l ight , and I—I shall have to ki l l y o u . " She

l o o k e d at Pao lo as she said t h i s and again

b u r s t i n t o t ea r s .

Fo r the mo me nt he fel t more sorr y for

the woman than for himself and set about to

c o m f o r t her.

" Oh, i t ' s al l r ig ht , " he said. " I kno w i t 's

no t your f au l t . I 'm no t angry wi th yo u . "

But his words only increased her distress.

" Yo u mus t no t c ry s o , " he wen t on .

" Yo u make me fee l wre tc hed . I suppose i t ' sI who ough t to c ry, no t you , bu t I won ' t . I ' l l

mak e i t as easy for yo u as I can, and—a nd i t

will s o o n b e o v e r. "

" H o w can you t a l k l i k e t h a t ? " s o b b e d

Mariet te . " H o w is i t t ha t you do no t h a t e

m e ? "

"B eca use yo u a re r ea l ly g o o d , I k n o w, "

said Pa ol o. " Y o u are on ly the slave of

bad men ; the y'd ki l l yo u if yo u d id n' t

o b e y t hem. Yo u a re 011I3' the i r slave and

it is all the i r f au l t , no t your s . "

Sudd enl y Mariet t e sprang to her feet ,

dashing the tea r s fro m her eyes . " I w o n ' t

d o it ! " she cri ed, sta mpi ng her f o o t . " I

w o n ' t be a slav e an y more ! I will bo bra ve

like you . Y ou shall not die ! "

For a moment hope r ev ived in Pao lo ' s

h e a r t ; the woman might help him to escape.

Then he real ised what such an act of kind

ness would cost her.

" But what about the a n a r c h i s t s ? " he said,

" won ' t t hey pun i sh yo u i f you d i sobe y them ?

T h e y have never forgiven my fa the r, because

he did not go and leave a dyn ami te machin eat a cert ain hou se, as he was ord er ed to do ;

and I don' t suppose they wil l t r ea t you any

b e t t e r . "

" I d o n ' t c a r e ! " c r i e d M a r i e tt e . " I h a v e

been dead t i l l now ever s ince my child di ed—

and I have neve r kno wn wh at i t was to l ive

—t o b e free ! "

" Then you are real ly going to help me ? "

'Anyone . would have thought that the boy was dressingon which his life depended

for some amateur theatricals, not for an adventure ," (See p. 575.)



The Son of an Anarchist. 57 5

asked P a o l o , grea t ly exci ted . " Y o u ar e g o i n g

t o se t mo free a n d h e l p me to escape inspite of the anarch is t s ? " Marie t te n o d d e d :sh e w a s th ink ing hard ho w it was to be d o n e .

It w a s n o w nine o 'c lock in the e v e n i n g ;a t a n y m o m e n t some of the anarch is t s

m i g h t c o m e to the c o t t a g e to see that P a o l ow as safe. T h e bes t t ime, therefore , t o e s c a p e

w o u l d be w h e n they were assembl ing at theruin, tha t i s , between half-past e leven a n dt w e l v e .

" W e must disguise ourse lves ," saidMar ie t te . " I have often had to do tha t ,b ut th e anarchists k n o w m o s t o f m y disguises .A s f o r y o u , y o u must bo dressed as a g i r l . "

P a o l o d i d n o t relish th is i d e a , b u tMariette to ld him it was qui te necessary,s o he had to give in . Wi t h o u t d e l a yMariette w e n t upstairs to turn o ut herw a r d r o b e an d presently came d o w n w i t h ab u n d l e of clothes, which she had s e l e c t e dfo r Paolo an d herself.

" This o l d w i d o w ' s disguise will d o f o r

m e , " sh e said. " I h a v e n ' t w o r n i t forsevera l years and my husband m a y h a v eforgot ten i t . " F o r P a o l o sh e chose a b l u eserge skirt, a loose p i n k blouse and a w h i t esun-bonnet. Could a n y o n e h a v e seen h i mtrying on his new c l o t h e s a n d grinning ashe saw his reflections in a looking-glass , hew o u l d have thought tha t the boy was dressing

fo r some amateur thea t r ica l s , not for anadventure o n which hi s life d e p e n d e d .

A t half-past eleven, after partaking o f ahurried supper, Mariette a n d P a o l o put ontheir disguises a n d prepared t o sa l ly for thi n t o th e darkness.

" Yo u must pretend I a m y o u r m o t h e r , "said she . " I am a w i d o w n a m e d M r s . Snowan d y o u a r e m y daughter E l i z a . "

" Very wel l , " said P a o l o b r i g h t l y, as if itwa s o n l y a merry g a m e . " We ' d bet te rb u c k u p , M u m m i e , a n d s t a r t o n o u r j o u r n e y. "

" Yo u must b e careful n o t t o g i v e us a w a yb y being b o y i s h , " said Mariette. " I d o n ' t

th ink girls say ' b u c k u p . ' "" A l l right. W h e r e are we g o i n g ? "" W e must g et right a w a y f r o m here first

of all and then perhaps we had bet te r g o t oy o u r f r iends ."

" Ye s , to Sir S a m u e l O v c r b u r y at Dashford .T h a t is w h e r e m y m o t h e r i s . "

Marie t te felt, a pang o f j ea lousy whenP a o l o m e n t i o n e d hi s m o t h e r, but she o n l ysaid : " Ye s , perhaps t h a t wil l b e b e s t . B u tr e m e m b e r I a m y o u r m o t h e r n o w. "

J u s t w h e n t h e dwarf and his c o m p a n i o n swere conceal ing t h e m s e l v e s a m o n g t h e i v yof the o ld ruin, t h o t w o w e n t o u t i n t o t h emoonl ight . Over t h e fields t h e y sped , th e

bogus m o t h e r an d daughter, u p o v e r t h ehills on the s ide of the val ley oppos i te to thehill w h e r e t h e s ignal was to be s h o w n .

T h e y h a d been walk ing f o r a b o u t an h o u ran d a half, w h e n , pausing for rest on the to pof one of the highest hills, they l o o k e d back tho way they h a d c o m e and s aw a light flashon t h e other s ide of the v a l l e y.

" L o o k ! " said P a o l o . " T h e r e is thes ignal ."

" Ye s , " said Mariette, d r a w i n g t h e b o yc lose to her, as if she had been hi s realm o t h e r. " B u t y o u shall not d i e ! yo u shallnot d i e ! "

(To be continued.)J. K BURTON.—You had better write to a photo

grapher at Cambridge, such as Stearns. Postcardphotographs are sure to be available in good variety'.

SCOUTS' MARCHING SONG.

B y T H E R E V. J . H U D S O N , M . A .

H ER E in the promise and prime of life'smorning,

Here in the glow and the glory of youth,

Dangers despising and cowardice scorning,

March we, the liegemen of Honour andTruth;

Never the scutcheon of scouthood betraying.Daring what others before us have dared,

Loyal to King and to country—obeyingThe motto that bids us be ever prepared 1

Chorus:

Onward! still onward we march, singing

gaily;

Heedless of hardships, by trials unscared;

One little act of beneficence dailyDuly performing, and ever prepared.

Ever prepared for the chance of befriendingSome of humanity's lowest and least!

Ever prepared for occasions of lendingKindly assistance to bird or to beast!

Deeds must be done, yea! and words must

be spoken,Pleasure and profit and pain must be

shared,

If we would prove by infallible tokenThe power of a Troop that is ever prepared.

Chorus : Onward, still onward ! etc.

March we, prepared for whatever befall us.Trouble or toil that may compass our life;

Eager to follow where duty may call us,

Faithful in seasons of peace or of strife ;

Staunch and unselfish, unswerving and steady.Zealous in head and in heart and in hand;

So doth a crisis find him who is ready,

Best to obey, ay! and best to command '.

Chorus: Onward, still onward ' etc.

{Additional verse when required.)

Yea ! and for him, at the close of life'sstory,

Sounds the "Last Po st " like a paean of love,

Shines the last "Sign" like a symbol of glory.

Saying " Gone Home " to the " Rally "above'

Home, where the Master of Scouts hathrecorded

Doings acknowledged and noticed by none;Home, where the least of " good turns" is

rewarded

With Praise of al l praises, " M y servant,Well done 1 "

Chorus : Onward, still onward ! etc.

D. W . FOX. —The original passage from which themotto on the " B.O.P." Annual title-page is taken,is to be found in " Juvenal," Sat. I. 85 -0 :—

" Quicquid agunt homines, votum, timor, via, voluptas,Claudia, discursus, nostri est farrago libelli."

Gilford's trans lation is :" Wha teve r wild desires It .;"e swell'd the breast,

Whatever passions have the soul p osse st;Joy, Sorrow, Fear, Love, Hatred, Transport,

Rage,Shall form the motley subject of my page."

" Pueri," of course, is an obvious substitut ion for" homines," for the purposes of the " B.O.P." andyou can make your own paraphrase of the singleadapted iine:

" Quicquid agunt pueri nostri (est) farrago libelli."

e.g. :—" What ever boys have done, in any age,

Shall form the motley subject of our page,"

or,'• Whatever occupies and interests boys

Provides the matter which our thought employs."

M E C H A N I C . — Yo u can obtain a set of castings of thevarious parts, ready for liling up and fitting t ogether,from the British Engineering and Electrical Co.,Leek, Staffordshire. Such a modef engine as yououtfine ought to work very well.

J E M . — A squirrel can generally be bought at a birdshop or at a live-stock dealer's for from three to tenshilling s; the price will vary according to theanimal's appearance, one with a good bushy tailbeing worth more than one poorly furnished, of course. It is best to secure a young one, which canbe judged by the colour of its teeth. In an oldsquirrel these are yellow, in a young one clearwhite. Buy your squirrel in the autumn , when itwill be in the prime of health and condition from itsplentiful summer food. Let your cage for it be a

targe one—o ft. square or more at ttie bottom andfrom 4 ft. to 6 ft. high. Natura l branching tree-stem perches should be iixed in, and if possible arevolving wheel or a swing for Master Squirrel'srecreation. Feed your pet on nuts, acorns, chestnuts, and walnuts, with some drier food, like maizeor wheat, or pieces of dry breadcrust. Avoid oilyseeds such as hempseed, except now and then. A.little bread and milk, squeezed rather dry, is recommended ; bits of meat, thou gh often relished,,mus t be given sparingly.



57 6 The "Boy's Obvn Taper.

Our Open Column.A N U P - C O U N T R Y H O L I D A Y I N

B R I T I S H G U I A N A .

H AVE you c haps ever trav elled on the roof of arailway carriage ? I guess not. Can't you fancy

yourselves on the top of an L . & S.W . express boundfor London ? Well, of course you know , the trains inBritish Guiana have not reached th e speed of those inthe Old Country, or we might not have stuck on.

A certain Saturday afternoon found Pat llyan,my brother Jim, and myself puffing out of GeorgetownStation, en route to spend our holiday at thepicturesque village of Mahai eony, * some forty mil esup the coast, where Pat's f ather owns an estate .We travelled 2nd Class for the fun of the thing, asthe 1 st Class compartment s had no tops, and, besidesthat, they were occupied mostly by grim-lookingplanters in wide-brimmed Panamas and gaiters, andmelancholy-looking nuns from the convent in town.

Our carriage did not boast much in the line of luxury,with its hard wooden seats, but its population was of the most cosmopolitan description. There were bigniggers and little niggers, in all shades of colour frombrown to eb ony ; the black ladies attired in hobble

skirts of brilliant green, crimson, and purple hues,and wonderful hats of the latest mode. Then therewere East Indian cooliemen in snowy turbans, shirtsand " babas " (a long cotton cloth wound rou nd thewaist and legs in lieu of trousers), with bare, brownlegs. A. Baboo's wife and daughters looked very gayin brightly coloured " joolas, " like Zoua ve jacket s,aud skirts, while the head covering was the graceful*' erni," which reminds one of a bridal veil, onl y itdoes not cover the face.

The Baboo is very fond of big brown boots—thebigger the bet ter; he knows that he can buy a No.10 boot for the same price as a No . 5, so he says::"I f big 'joo ta* lil ' jo ota ' all same ting, take umbig ' joota.' " Yo u can trust Baboo to drive a bargain.Coolie girls, unlike their lords, always go barefoot,and wear heavy silver anklets which jingle musically:ta they walk. When in full dress there's a ring oneach toe (like the famous damsel of Banbury Cross),and a ring through the nose, while the arms are covered

with heavy bangles to the elbows . Ad d to the niggersand coolies a sprinkling of Chinamen and you havethe tout ensenMfi of our fellow-travellers.

We had been under way for about five mi nuteswhen Pat suggested that we should go up on to theroof of the carriage. The view from the roof wasworth the exertion of climbing up, and the Hat, grassysavanna lands, with little villages here and there,bathed in the mellow afternoon sunlight, made a prettypicture. Now and then we passed a sugar plantatio n,with its tall bric k factory chimne y, a nd green fieldsof waving sugar-cane, and big herds of cattle and mulesgrazing on the open pasture lands.

The frequent halts at the qua int little countrystations, humming with negro life, prevented the two-hour journey from becoming at all monotonous, andsoon great forests of coco-nut trees heralded theapproach of Haha icony. Pat's father was at thestation t o meet us, and we at once adjourned to Pat'sancestral home , where a refreshing cold tub and

a most comfor ting hot dinner awaited us.There was a glorious moon that nigh t; not the pale

yellow moon of the Old Country, but the big, brightorb of the tropics, flooding the whole outspread worldwith its brilliant silvery blue light, like a gi ganticarc-lamp. In the daytime the general impression of Mahaicony is a world of green, formed by the brightgreen of the coco-nut palms, and the lighter hue of the grass, intersected b y bright red roads of burntearth, while through the foliage you catch a glimpsehere and there of the brown waters of the Creek, theripples flashing like silver in the sunlight.

On this particular moonlight night, as we cycledover to " Broomlea Park " to visit our friends t heWilsons, instead of a world of green it was a worldof silver, the endless groves of palms looking likemolten silver as the frond-like serrated branchesswayed gently in the light breeze, while the calm stillness of the tropical night was broken only by thechirruping of insects, and the soft mournful cry .

Who're you, who yo u ? " of a little night-jar thathopped on the road all the way in front of our bikes.

It's no good walki ng in the coun try, as the bigplanters live miles apar t; each house being set downin the middle of a big estate planted up chieflywith rice and coco-nut s ; so you either cyc le, drive or

ride, whichever you fancy most. After spending sometime a t " Broomle a " we rode on to another estate," Spoonlands," to visit the Campbells. The nightwas alive with fire-flies now, dancing like myriadpoints of living fire in the dark undergrowth. •

The next day being Sunday we went to church at

the little Presbyter ian Church in the village. Thechoir of dusky belles looked quite charming in festivesilks and satins, and they treat ed us to a Whitsunt ideanthem, sung with such fervour that it almost madeup for the lack of harmo ny. Prom church wewent hom e to a good old country breakfast consistingof pepper -potte d " labba.'* fricasseed rooster , hassars,pacco, and yarrow, with yams, cassava boulanger,and sweet potatoes by way of vegetables. " Labba "is a wild animal that looks something like a bush-pig>;:-id the other things with f unny na mes (barring thevegeta bles) are " bush " fish.

We paid another visit to " Broomlea " during theday, and while we were there an a larm was raisedthat a " sallapante r " was in the fow l-house. Thisgentleman is a big lizard, about four feet long, with aset of teeth that would warm the heart of any dentist,coupled with a great weakness for chickens. Picturethe excitement when the three daughters of the household and ourselves rushed out of the house, armed

with shot-guns and air-rifles, to give battle to themonster. Of course we let the ladies have first shot,and—of course—the y missed, and " sally " too kcover in a thicket. That thicket was simply ploughedwith >IM>Land shell, but, to our unbounded astonishment, when the '* cease fire" sound ed, lo and beho ld,that reptile with t he cha rmed life was sneaking awayto pastures new. Foolish fellow to break co ve r; hewas very soon a corpse, looking much the worse forwear, and we carried him back in triumph to gracethe table of two young ocelots (tiger-cats) that th eWilsons had caugh t in the savanna. One of theocelo ts was a big fellow, nearly four feet long, withgolden-brown fur, spotted with black.

We were up with the lark next morning, as a ridein the savanna was on the tapis for the day. Theopen savanna commences just behind " Spoonlands."Imagine, boys, a great fiat grassy prairie, stretchingas far as the eye can see, broken here aud there bybelts of forest, and you have a bird' s-eye view of the

savanna. In some parts it is very smooth, withshort grass, then there an; stretches of plumed pampasgrass as high as your saddle, while in other partsagain the ground is nothing but little hummockswhich make riding very risky, but our horses aresurefooted and know how to pick their way.

The rain had Hooded the greater part of the plai n,and when our horses, after l aboriously scramblingthrough very rough ground, took affairs into theirown hands (or rather hoofs), when they got on a bit«f temptin g sward, the sensation was most ex hilarating.One horse would be ahead, racing for all he was worth,and the others, with necks stretched out, thunderingalong at his flying heels. A hunt in the Old Countryis a baby to it. Imagi ne yourself whizzing throughthe air, with the wind singing in your ears and thespray dashing up in showers from the sodden grass,while all you've got to do is just to sit tight. Youcan't see the nature of the ground for water, and youmay take a flying header over your horse's ears

any minute if he puts his foot in a hole ; b ut he knowsmore about it than you.

Yo u see broken hummocky ground ahead and tryto rein in, but it's no good tugging, his mouth is likeiron and he only goes the madder; you hold yourbreath, and the next minute, hardly slackening speed,

this too, too fiery steed is bounding from tuft to tuft,and you wonder if you are riding on an earthq uake;but he never misses his footing. Once more out of it, and here you are on pampas grass, which whips youin the face as you tear through it, leaving an openlane behind. What's that ahead ? Running water,

and looks deep too I The hair starts to rise on yourhead, as there seems no chance of stopping tliiswhirlwind of a horse, when, without even apologisingfor his abruptness, he stops dead on the very brink,giving yo u a violent inclination to take an involuntarydive, and then walks quietly through the water, whichreaches to your saddle-girths.

Our cavalcade consisted of six in all —Campbell of " Spoonlands," Jack Wilson of " Broomlea ," Pa t,Billy, another fellow from town (Harry Smith) andmj-self. Poor old Harry, how he stuck on was amarvel to me, and he had hardly ever ridden a horsebefore, but stick on he did, with body braced backand feet stuck out in front of him, as if he was on arocking-horse. The whole savanna was alive withbirds; great flocks of blue and white " anor as"(or cranes), with lovely tail plumes, herons andspoonbills, while here and there groups of majestic" negrokops " (a species of large stork) , sean-hing theshallow water for fish with their great bills. The

snowy-white plumage of th e cranes, and delicate rosc-pink of the spoonbills, made a pretty picture, whilehere and there a bright crimson cloud in the distancerevealed a flock of " Curri-curri," or scarlet ibis. Tosee a (lock of these birds flying in the sunshine is abeautiful sight, looking like a sheet of living flame.Most of us had guns, and we tried a bi t of stalking, butshooting from horseback is no joke, ami we had togive it up.

We caught glimpses of a few alligators and severalsnakes (" camo odie s" or water-boas), but they didnot wai t for us ; while in the forest belts around wecould hear baboo ns howling. These gentry are big,howling monkeys, with long bright-red hair, quitepicturesque brutes. They ma ke a most awe-inspiringchorus, like the roar of a hungry jaguar, and, indeed,their roar is often mistaken for his.

" Tally -ho ! Tally -ho ! " shouts Jack Wilson ashe flashes past us. " Tally-ho , boys I Catch

* Corsair * who can. " The rest of us, bunched together,are thundering at the heels of th e flyin g " pirate,*'when suddenly Corsair's head goes down, and heseems to turn a complete somersault, while Jack doesa sort of aeroplane flight through the air . . . . thenall you see is a troubled expanse of brown savannawater, from which a bedraggled man and beast presentlyemerge, not a bit the wo ise for wear. It all happenedso suddenly tha t we had no chance to realise howeasily Jack might have broken his neck before we wore

• laughing at the figure he cut.The girls insisted on taking our photos before

we dismoun ted, and, if t hey thought we looked likebuslirangers when we set out, it's a good thing t heydidn't express a ny opinion when we got back, wellsoaked in brown peaty water and liquid mud ;perhaps they couldn't find words suitable.

Tuesday morning found Pat, Jim and I once moreon top of our railway carriage, on our way back to town,feeling rather sore in body from our half-day in thesaddle, and a little sore at heart at leaving the Landof Coco-nuts behind, but full of very pleasant recollections of our jolly country holiday, and already lookingforward to the next one.

L. H . GEORGE.

Our Chauffeur at

Seaside.

" I shouldn't wonder if I had a

skid. This 'ere complicated steering

gear is a bit too thick for me."

Documents

Boys Own Paper June 7, 1913